Erodgan lifts head scarf ban in public institutions

Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Monday lifted a ban on wearing head scarf in public institutions, part of a bundle of democratic reforms aimed at boosting freedoms and rights of minorities in Turkey. The decades-long ban on wearing head scarf will be scrapped in all public institutions with the exception of judiciary, police and army, Erdogan told a news conference as he was announcing the long-anticipated reforms. He said more languages and dialects, which were banned since the Republic was established 90 years ago, would be taught including the Kurdish language. Erdogan said he would amend the election law to reduce the threshold for a political party to enter the parliament from 10 to five percent. The government, he added, would allow political parties to launch their election campaigns with languages other than the Turkish one in a drive to boost democratic rights of minorities. Legal penalties will be tougher on crimes of hatred and racism, as well as allowing different ethnicities and minorities to exercise their religious rituals, and establishing anti-discrimination institution. Erdogan said his government was determined to pursue with these reforms, accusing the opposition for their lack of cooperation with the ruling party. The democratic reforms are not the result of a bargain but demands by the people.