Turkey should lift hijab ban

Nobel laureate Tawakkul Karman has said the rights of Muslim women who wear the hijab must be respected and Turkish women MPs should be allowed to wear the Islamic headscarf in the parliament building. The Yemeni activist made the remarks in the Turkish capital Ankara on Sunday in response to a question about the situation in the Turkish parliament, which bans women who wear the hijab, Turkish news websites reported. “I think that women must participate in all political life fields and they should be in the institutions of the public life, even without speaking about her religion or (saying) if she is wearing hijab or not wearing hijab. It is freedom,” Karman stated.  She went on to say that all women should be allowed to participate in political activities, regardless of their religious beliefs or manner of dress. Karman, who shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, has played a key role in the campaigns for women's rights and democracy in Yemen.