The Headscarf Issue at State Institutions in Turkey: From the Kemalist Age to Recent Developments

This chapter aims to offer some remarks on the legal, political and social obstacles that headscarved women working at State institutions in Turkey have met for decades, as well as on the most recent developments concerning the lift on the headscarf ban. The first part focuses upon the historical background and the ideological context of the creation of the ‘new Turkey’. The second part deals with the legal provisions that – until recently – have regulated the use of the headscarf for women working at State institutions, and with those that have recently been introduced to allow female servants – at least in some branches of the public administration – to wear a headscarf at the workplace, if they wish so. The third part is a critique of the arguments that for a long time have grounded this limitation and still ground it for some categories of professionals.