Following the attendance of four deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in a parliamentary session with their headscarves last week, another deputy from the ruling party walked into the chamber with her headscarf on Tuesday.
Four AK Party deputies — Sevde Bayazıt Kaçar, Gönül Bekin Şahkulubey, Nurcan Dalbudak and Gülay Samancı — entered Parliament wearing their headscarves last week after they announced that they had decided to cover their heads in line with their religious beliefs after performing the hajj in Mecca in October.
The deputies’ move marked the end of a long-standing ban on wearing the headscarf in Parliament.
The deputies said they would attend parliamentary sessions with their scarves on because there are no regulations banning the wearing of headscarves in Parliament and Turkey has recently allowed the wearing of headscarves by public employees, except for members of the judiciary and military. These deputies attended Thursday’s session of Parliament while wearing their scarves.
Another lawmaker from the ruling party, Bursa deputy Canan Candemir Çelik, also joined a parliamentary session on Tuesday, becoming the fifth headscarved deputy.
Çelik announced last week that she would join the four deputies in Parliament with her headscarf. “I took such a decision. I will continue like this from now on,” she said. The deputy on Saturday attended an inauguration ceremony in Bursa with Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç with her headscarf.
source: todayszaman
Tags: Fifth AK party, Politics, women
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