Turkey's headscarf: a symbol in politics, a barrier in life

July 07

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - No one gives up their seat when Sefika Yilmaz, in her Muslim headscarf, struggles onto the bus with her kids, she says -- but when an uncovered woman gets on at the next stop, offers of seats are abundant.

Yilmaz, who is half-blind and lives in an Ankara shanty town, wanted the ruling religious-leaning AK Party to win Turkey's election on Sunday in part so that devout women will get more respect, and be able to wear their scarves more freely ...

"I went to hospital ... and the uncovered women were treated with much higher priority," the mother of four said. "Covered women are not given any importance." ...

"If I get on a bus and there are lots of covered women, they look at me like an insect," said Ayse Akpinar, a 20-year-old English student at Istanbul University.

Secularists also say headscarves are becoming more common in public offices and universities are getting lax about the ban, a move they say threatens uncovered women's freedom.

When Time magazine ran a headscarfed woman on its front page, many were upset that it tainted Turkey's image abroad. Some secularists are also unhappy that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his covered wife represent them abroad ...