Secularists protest end to scarf ban
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About 125,000 people, most of them women, denounced government plans to lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves at universities.
Protesters marched to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey. They chanted: “Turkey is secular and will remain secular.”
Many Turks, including the influential military establishment, regard the government’s move as a threat to the separation of church and state established by Ataturk.
The government says the change is needed to give citizens religious liberty and bring Turkey in line with European Union rights guidelines.
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