In Turkey, University Faculty Cannot Remove Students Who Wear Muslim Headscarves

Despite a 2008 ruling by Turkey's Constitutional Court that appears to hold that Turkey's constitution bars the wearing of Muslim head scarves at universities (see prior posting), Turkey's Higher Education Board (YOK) recently notified Istanbul University that instructors can no longer take disciplinary action against students who wear them.  Instead of removing offending students from class, instructors can only report them to the dean. Reporting on YOK's ruling, Hurriyet Daily News last week called it a "don't ask don't tell solution" to a "heavily symbolic legal, political and social dilemma." An op ed today by Richard Peres in Turkey's English language daily, Today's Zaman, makes some interesting observations on the possibility of Turkish women taking a lesson from developments that led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the United States.