Turkish parties launch compromise on headscarf reform

By Gareth Jones and Hidir Goktas

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling AK Party and opposition nationalists launched plans on Tuesday to ease a ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf in universities that try to address the worries of the country's secular elite.

Turkish secularists, who include army generals and judges, have long opposed any easing of the ban, saying it could harm the separation of state and religion. The issue sparked early polls last year after mass secular rallies and army warnings.

A parliament official told Reuters the proposal was sent to parliament on Tuesday evening with the signatures of 348 deputies from the AK Party and the nationalist MHP, whose support is needed to push through the reform.

"Our sole goal is to end the injustice against our women students, we have no other aim. These changes are limited to higher education," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers from his religiously oriented AK Party in televised remarks.

Erdogan, who once served a short jail sentence for reading a poem deemed too Islamist and whose wife and daughters all wear the headscarf, has to tread warily for fear of provoking a tough reaction from the army generals.

The staunchly secular army, with public backing, ousted a government it saw as too Islamist as recently as 1997.

The new proposal would only lift the ban for women who tie the headscarf under their chin in the traditional Turkish way. The increasingly popular wrap-round version, seen as a symbol of political Islam, will continue to be banned on campuses.

Burqas -- which cover the whole body -- and other forms of Islamic dress will remain banned. University teachers and civil servants will continue to be barred from covering their heads.