A recent Higher Education Board (YÖK) move to bar university administrations from not allowing covered students to enter their campuses or attend courses has received the full support of multiple fronts in society, with even the staunchest opponents of the use of the Muslim scarf on university campuses choosing to remain silent about or even supportive of the move.

Thousands of students have been denied access to higher education due to the notorious ban on the headscarf since 1997, when the ban was first introduced. YÖK recently sent a circular to İstanbul University warning teachers not to send students who are not dressed in a manner consistent with the dress code out of class. According to the board, records should be kept about such students, but they should not be ordered out of class.The circular came in response to a complaint filed by a student at the medical faculty. Zeynep Nur İncekara, the student, was sent out of class twice by a professor after she insisted on wearing a hat inside in 2009.Most observers -- including intellectuals, jurists and members of civil society organizations -- have praised YÖK over its attempt to lift the controversial headscarf ban on university campuses. “I find the YÖK move positive. … The use of the headscarf cannot be banned through a Constitutional Court decision. It can be banned only through a law. And there is no such law,” noted Çetin Tahtacı, head of the Kocaeli branch of the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER).Tahtacı was referring to a Constitutional Court ruling in the late 1990s, which universities adopted to ban the use of the Muslim headscarf on their campuses. According to the universities, allowing the headscarf would violate the nation's secular principles because the headscarf was seen as a political and religious symbol.According to Erhan Başyurt, editor-in-chief of the Bugün daily, Turkey is the single country on earth that does not allow students to wear the headscarf at universities. He recalled many tragic incidents witnessed on campuses due to the notorious ban. “At the entrance of universities, they set up ‘persuasion rooms' to urge covered students to take their scarves off. That was not enough for them. They made security guards force girls to expose their hair when entering campuses. The headscarf was such an ‘obsession' for those elitists that they even dared to check female students to see if they were wearing wigs,” he said. YÖK recently sent a circular to İstanbul University warning teachers not to dissmis from class students who are not dressed in a manner consistent with the dress code. The use of a wig or hat as an alternative to a scarf is common in Turkey's universities.Political parties have thus far failed to find a solution to the headscarf ban. In 2008, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) passed a constitutional amendment package that would have lifted the ban on wearing the headscarf on university campuses. However, upon an appeal by the Republican People's Party (CHP), the Constitutional Court annulled the amendment.Mustafa Şentop, an associate professor of law at Marmara University, called for a constitutional amendment for the entire abolishment of the headscarf ban. He said scarf opponents may find alternative ways to make the ban remain in place. To avert this, he said, an article should be added to the Constitution that will clearly stipulate that any kind of attire is free at universities.According to Professor Ergun Özbudun, a constitutional law expert, however, a constitutional amendment is not required to lift the headscarf ban at universities. He said existing laws could be re-interpreted, and with the support of the opposition parties, the ban could entirely be lifted.Latif Selvi, chairman of the executive board of the Konya Civil Society Organization, also praised YÖK over its move and said similar circulars should be sent to other universities, too. ‘Silent support' from the CHPThe CHP has reportedly decided to lend “silent support” to YÖK move and not to seek legal methods to bring the headscarf ban back to life. Circles close to Kılıçdaroğlu told the Hürriyet daily that the CHP is sincere in the settlement of the headscarf problem and does not plan to block pro-freedom attempts for the use of the headscarf on university campuses. “The CHP leader does not want to see his party involved in headscarf-related debates any longer,” the daily learned.The CHP leader allegedly told his close circle of friends that there is no law that bans the headscarf at universities, and thus, there is no obstacle to allowing the use of the headscarf on campuses.Kılıçdaroğlu recently sparked a heated debate after he proposed the adoption of an Iranian or Pakistani-like model by covered university students. Under these models, some parts of the hair are visible. Move sparks excitement, delight among studentsIt was covered university students who were most delighted by YÖK's pro-freedom move concerning the headscarf. They said they were happy to see that the years-long problem will finally be settled.A student at the İzmir Dokuz Eylül University, who wanted to be identified only with her initials as T.D., said she faced a “hostile attitude” from her teachers due to her headscarf. “Once one of my teachers, an associate professor, told me he would mark me absent. I asked him how he could this since I was present in the class. He said he would mark anyone attending his course with a hat absent. When I resisted, he started to yell at me. He said neither the president nor the prime minister had managed to solve the headscarf problem, and asked if I would be able to solve it,” the student recalled, and added that she faced a similar attitude from many of her other teachers.Öznur Tamer, who graduated from the same university, said she spent her years at university as a “victim” due to the ban on the headscarf. “I was a victim because I wanted to obey religious rules in a country where 99 percent of the citizens are Muslim. … Every day I went to the university, I begged God not to face more trouble due to my headscarf,” she noted. 07 October 2010, ThursdayBETÜL AKKAYA DEMIRBAŞ  İSTANBUL