Turks applaud Recep Tayyip Erdogan's easing of headscarf ban Relaxing on Istanbul's coastline in a bright purple headscarf and smart black trenchcoat, Ezgi says that as, of Tuesday, Turkey is a fairer country. The reason for the 17-year-old student's belief is the decision to scrap most of the restrictions on women wearing headscarves in public life, for which she thanks the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister. Now, for the first time after the military overthrew an Islamist-led government 16 years ago, women wearing the headscarf can teach in state schools. And for the first time since the establishment of the Turkish Republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, they have the unambiguous right to work in public offices, apart from uniformed services such as the police, prosecutors and judges. Mr Erdogan has already announced that women wearing the headscarf will be among his Islamist-rooted AK party's list in local elections next year; their appearance in parliament is only a matter of time. Nabi Avci, education minister, added on Tuesday that 350 teachers sacked after 1997 have already reapplied for their jobs. "I don't see anything bad about this at all," says Ezgi, who wants to be a graphic designer and complains that until now she had to uncover her head in classes. We suffered a lot because of this issue. She thinks that together with the scrapping of the government ban, the private sector will become more welcoming of women with religious dress. No one else who was asked nearby, in Besiktas, one of the most secular parts of Istanbul, offered a word of criticism about the decision finally to relax the ban, with many calling for Mr Erdogan to scrap the remaining restrictions. The European Commission also hailed what it described as Turkey's "growing consensus" on an issue on which EU member states themselves remain sharply divided; for example, headscarves and other items of religious clothing are banned from French state schools. But there were other, broader questions about the bundle of measures among which Mr Erdogan last week announced the end of the ban. Ezgi is also a member of Turkey's Alevi religious minority, who complain the state has not met their own demand for equal treatment with Sunnis. Ethnic Kurdish leaders have denounced what they say is a package that rewards Mr Erdogan's supporters while taking only incremental steps for others. And opposition politicians argue that a government offer to reduce the 10 per cent threshold for entry into parliament is a barely disguised electoral ploy to increase AK party representation by moving closer to a first-past-the-post system. "Lifting the headscarf restrictions should be celebrated," said Hakan Altinay of the Brookings Institution. It should be coupled as soon as possible with other measures that will ensure Turks of other persuasions to exercise their freedoms and live full lives. However, some secular Turks continue to accuse Mr Erdogan of moving society into a more Islamic direction, one of the most prominent complaints of this year's mass protests in Istanbul and elsewhere. Even as the headscarf ban was lifted, Huseyin Celik, the AK party's spokesman, complained that the dress of a game show hostess was too revealing, leaving her future uncertain amid reports she had been subsequently dismissed. Is it acceptable if a lady goes somewhere with an extremely low neckline? Mr Celik asked, before adding: "We are not meddling with what people wear."