Image copyright AFP Image caption Headscarves are now much more widely seen in Turkey

A ban on female army officers in Turkey wearing the Muslim headscarf has been lifted by the government.

The military is the last Turkish institution to see the ban removed. It has long been seen as the guardian of Turkey's secular constitution.

Wearing headscarves in public institutions was banned in the 1980s.

But Turkey's Islamist-leaning President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, argues that the ban is an illiberal vestige of the past.

The issue has been controversial in Turkey for many years.

Secularists regard the headscarf as a symbol of religious conservatism and have accused President Erdogan of pushing an Islamist agenda, converting many public schools into religious ones as part of his pledge to raise "a pious generation".

Over the past decade the ban has been removed for schools, universities, the civil service and in August for the police.

The BBC's Mark Lowen, in Istanbul, says the secular side of Turkey now feels largely ostracised, accusing Mr Erdogan of governing just for his conservative, religious support base.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Islamic groups have lobbied hard for wider acceptance of headscarves

Image copyright AP Image caption Women in Turkey's police and security forces may now wear headscarves

The conservatives respond that they were long seen as second-class citizens and the headscarf is an expression of individual liberties.

Our correspondent says that Turkey's religious-secular divide is as old as the republic itself, but is now arguably deeper than ever.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Hala Hindawi explains why she likes to wear a hijab. Sometimes

The fall and rise of the headscarf

Witness: Turkey's headscarf row

Watch: Indonesian women talk about fashion and the hijab

The new rules apply to regular women military officers, non-commissioned officers and female cadets. They will be allowed to wear a headscarf under their caps or berets as long as they are the same colour as their uniforms and are not patterned, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The military's opposition to the government's move has been weakened after President Erdogan's supporters increased their authority over the armed forces following the failed 15 July coup last year.

The changes will come into effect once they are published in the official gazette.

Turkey has had a secular constitution with no state religion since 1920.

Most people in Turkey are Sunni Muslims.</s>ANKARA: Turkey on Wednesday lifted a ban on wearing headscarf for cadets, women officers and non-commissioned officers of the military.

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are the last institution which has lifted the ban.

Under the Ministry of National Defense’s new uniform regulation, now non-commissioned, female officers and cadets of Turkish army, navy and air force now can wear headscarves under their caps or berets matching with their respective uniforms. Besides, students at military schools can also wear headscarf after the removal of this ban.

The new uniform regulation will be effective after the Official Gazette formally publish it.

Last year in November, the Turkish military had removed a ban on headscarf for women civilian personnel.

Also, male civilians serving the Turkish military were allowed to grow beard and not to wear a tie during summer season.</s>Somalian born model, Halima Aden who was the first Muslim to compete in a beauty pageant wearing Hijab has been signed on to one of the top modeling agencies in the world, IMG Models.

She shot CR Fashion book with Mario Sorrenti and walked in Kanye West's Yeezys Season 7 at the New York Fashion Week which just ended. She achieved all these wearing her Hijab. Read some of her comments and see more photos after the cut..</s>Somalian-born model, Halima Aden who was the first Muslim to compete in a beauty pageant wearing Hijab has been signed on to one of the top modeling agencies in the world, IMG Models.She shot CR Fashion book with Mario Sorrenti and walked in Kanye West's Yeezy Season 7 at the New York Fashion Week which just ended. She achieved all these wearing her Hijab."Never thought I would see the day that a woman dressed like me would grace the cover of a fashion magazine. Thank you SO much @carineroitfeld and my new @crfashionbook family for giving me the opportunity to feel represented in the most beautiful way ❤️"</s>ISTANBUL: Turkey on Wednesday said it was lifting a historic ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country’s armed forces.

The military was the final Turkish institution where women were prohibited from wearing the head-scarf, after reforms by the Islamic-rooted government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has allowed it to be worn in education, politics and the police.

The move, ordered by the defense ministry, applies to female officers working in the general staff and command headquarters and branches, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

“The problem with preventing the wearing of the headscarf has now been completely removed in Turkey,” Defense Minister Fikri Isik was quoted as saying by Anadolu.

“Those who wish can perform their duties while wearing the headscarf. The gendarmerie and the po-lice lifted this restriction and now the army has.”

According to the reform, women may wear the headscarf underneath their cap or beret so long as it is the same color as their uniform and does not cover their faces.

The reform, announced just under two months before Turkey votes in a crucial referendum on ex-panding Erdogan’s powers, will come into force once it is published in the official gazette.

It will also apply to female cadets, but it was not immediately clear if it applies to women on combat missions.

The ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), co-founded by Erdogan, has long pressed for the removal of restrictions on women wearing the headscarf.

Speaking to Turkish reporters at his offices in Ankara, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he believed the removal of the ban was “very positive,” pro-government daily Yeni Safak said.

Army last holdout

 The military has usually been seen as the strongest bastion of secular Turkey and had been traditional-ly hostile to any perceived Islamization of state institutions.

But its political power has ebbed after the government increased control over the armed forces fol-lowing a failed military coup in July, blamed on followers of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey lifted a ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf, known as the hijab, on university cam-puses in 2010.

It allowed female students to wear the headscarf in state institutions from 2013 and in high schools in 2014.

Female MPs meanwhile began to wear headscarves in parliament from October 2013 when four fe-male AKP lawmakers wore the hijab in a session, in contrast to the scenes in 1999 when a headscarf-wearing MP from the now defunct Virtue Party was heckled out of the chamber.

Famously, the choosing of AKP co-founder Abdullah Gul as president in 2007 caused a political crisis as his wife wears the hijab—a controversy unthinkable when Erdogan took the top office in 2014. His wife Emine also wears the headscarf.

And in the latest key reform before the army’s move, Turkey in August allowed policewomen to wear the headscarf as part of their uniform.

At the time of controversy over lifting the ban in the police forces, pro-government media pointed out that several Western states had already granted female officers permission to wear the garment.

The military was until now seen as the last holdout on the issue, although civilians employed by the armed forces have been able to wear the hijab since last year.

There had been signs that the landmark reform was in the offing when press reports said that a wom-an, Merve Gurbuz, was undergoing training that could make her Turkey’s first hijab-wearing fighter pilot.

Highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, Turkish media seized heavily on recent reports that US actress Lindsay Lohan—who has met Erdogan and shown interest in Islam—was asked to take off her head-scarf at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Erdogan’s critics have long accused the president of eating away at the secular pillars of modern Tur-key as set up by its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk when he established the Turkish republic in 1923.

The government rejects the suggestions, saying it allows freedom of worship for all Turkish citizens whatever their beliefs.</s>Turkey will lift a ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country’s armed forces, according to state media.

The military was the final Turkish institution where women were prohibited from wearing the headscarf, after reforms by the Islamic-rooted government under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that have allowed it to be worn in education, politics and the police.

The move, ordered by the defence ministry, applies to female officers working in the general staff and command headquarters and branches, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday.

Women may wear the headscarf underneath their cap or beret as long as it is the same colour as their uniform and does not cover their faces.

The reform will come into force once it is published in the official gazette. It will also apply to female cadets, but it was not immediately clear if it applied to women on combat missions.

The ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP), co-founded by Erdoğan, has long pressed for the removal of restrictions on women wearing the headscarf.

Speaking to Turkish reporters at his offices in Ankara, Binali Yıldırım, the prime minister, said he believed the removal of the ban was “very positive”, pro-government daily Yeni Safak said.

The military has traditionally been seen as the strongest bastion of secular Turkey and had been hostile to any perceived Islamisation of state institutions.

But its political power has ebbed after the government increased control over the armed forces since the failed military coup in July, blamed on followers of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

Turkey lifted a ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf on university campuses in 2010. It allowed female students to wear it in state institutions from 2013 and in high school in 2014.

Female MPs, meanwhile, began to wear headscarves in parliament from October 2013 when four female AKP lawmakers wore it in a session, in contrast to the scenes in 1999 when a headscarf-wearing MP from the now-defunct Virtue party was heckled out of the chamber.

And in the latest key reform before the army’s move, Turkey in August allowed female police officers to wear the headscarf as part of their uniform.

At the time of the controversy over lifting the ban in the police forces, pro-government media pointed out that several western states had already granted female officers permission to wear the garment.

The military was until now seen as the last holdout on the issue, although civilians employed by the armed forces have been able to wear the hijab since 2016.

There had been signs that the landmark reform was in the offing when press reports said that a woman, Merve Gurbuz, was undergoing training that could make her Turkey’s first hijab-wearing fighter pilot.

Erdoğan’s critics have long accused the president of eating away at the secular pillars of modern Turkey as set up by its founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk when he established the Turkish republic in 1923.

The government rejects the suggestions, saying it allows freedom of worship for all Turkish citizens whatever their beliefs.</s>ISTANBUL - Turkey’s army is lifting a historic ban on female officers wearing the Islamic headscarf in the officially secular country, the state-run Anadolu news agency said Wednesday.

The move, ordered by the defence ministry, applies to female officers working in the general staff and command headquarters and branches, it said.

Women may wear the headscarf underneath their cap or beret so long as it is the same colour as their uniform and does not cover their faces.

The reform will come into force once it is published in the official gazette. It was not immediately clear if it applied to women on combat missions. It will also apply to female cadets.

The ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long pressed for the removal of restrictions on women wearing the headscarf.

Turkey lifted a ban on the wearing of the Muslim headscarf, known as the hijab, on university campuses in 2010. It allowed female students to wear the headscarf in state institutions from 2013 and in high school in 2014.

And in the latest key reform before the army’s move, Turkey in August for the first time allowed policewomen to wear the Islamic headscarf as part of their uniform.

Erdogan’s critics have long accused the president of eating away at the secular pillars of modern Turkey as set up by its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk when he established the Turkish republic in 1923.

The government rejects the suggestions, saying it is allowing freedom of worship for all Turkish citizens whatever their beliefs.

At the time of the controversy over the lifting of the ban on the headscarf in the police forces, pro-government media pointed out that several Western states have already granted female police officers permission to wear the headscarf.

The army has traditionally been seen as the strongest bastion of the secular state and had been traditionally hostile to any perceived Islamisation of state institutions.

But its political power has ebbed after the government increased control over the armed forces in the wake of the failed July 15 coup bid blamed on followers of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.</s>FGCU’s Muslim Student Association hosted its annual Hijab Day on Monday, Feb. 20 to help students, faculty and staff understand some of the misconceptions about wearing the hijab.</s>The U.S. Army recently lifted its ban on hair worn in dreadlocks.

Sgt. Maj. Anthony Moore of the Army’s office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel said the new directive offers female soldiers another option for styling their hair.

“We understood there was no need to differentiate between locks, cornrows or twists as long as they all met the same dimension,” Moore told the Northwest Guardian, a publication of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. “Females have been asking for a while, especially females of African-American descent, to be able to wear dreadlocks and locks because it’s easier to maintain that hairstyle.”

According to the Army’s directive, each lock or dreadlock, “will be of uniform dimension; have a diameter no greater than a half-inch; and present a neat, professional and well-groomed appearance.”

Grooming regulations in the different branches of the military have been at odds with natural hair for many years, with female soldiers having pushed for easement on the rules since 2014 when the Army changed its rules on natural hair.

Amid a backlash of criticism, the Army at that time, banned large cornrows, locs, and twists, as well as hair that could not be “neatly” pulled back into a bun. Afro hairstyles had also been banned in an effort to “maintain uniformity within a military population.”

“I didn’t think it would happen before I retired,” Capt. Danielle N. Roach, who has been enlisted for 14 years, told the New York Times. “When I heard it, I was like, ‘There’s no way this is real.’ It’s a shock to a lot of people.”
The Turkish government lifts the ban prohibiting female army officers from wearing a Hijab. The military is the last Turkish institution to end the ban.