Turkey Approves Hijab As Part Of Official Police Uniform

Turkey has allowed policewomen to wear
the hijab as part of their uniforms for the first
time.

Female police officers “will be able to cover
their heads” under their caps or berets with a
headscarf “the same colour as the uniform
and without pattern” while on duty, the
official gazette said on Saturday.

Rulings published in the official gazette come
into force immediately, AFP reports.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-
rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP)
has pushed for restrictions on women
wearing the hijab to be relaxed and the
move follows similar changes in Turkish
regulation.

In 2010, an official ban on headscarves in
universities was lifted throughout the
country. Three years later, women were
allowed to wear the hijab in state institutions
and the prohibition was abandoned for
students in high schools in 2014.

The moves have led some to accuse
President Erdogan of attempting to
reinterpret Turkey’s secularist constitution,
the BBC.

Turkey has been an officially secular state
with no state religion since the Turkish
republic was established in 1923.
But the country’s pro-government media
have noted that several Western nations
have relaxed restrictions over wearing
headscarves .

On Thursday, Police Scotland announced the
hijab will become part of its official uniform,
with the hope of creating a more diverse
force.

Muslim blood donor won't take off her hijab or be
driven by fear 'because then the terrorists win'
The force said they hope the move will
“encourage women from Muslim
communities, who may previously not have
seen policing as a career option to
reconsider.”

The Canadian government also said this
week The Royal Canadian Mounted
Police would allow its officers to wear hijabs
as part of their uniforms in an effort to boost
the recruitment of Muslim women.

The announcement also follows a ruling by
France’s highest administrative court that
“burkini bans” enforced at some of the
country’s beach resorts are illegal and a
violation of fundamental liberties.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-hijab-headscarf-police-officers-uniform-approved-muslim-women-a7213861.html?cmpid=facebook-post