Turkish lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Saturday in favour of lifting a ban on Islamic headscarves at universities, defying a mass rally protesting the move as a threat to secularism.
The final vote on the constitutional reform package, tabled by the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), received 411 'yes' votes in the 550-seat house, parliament speaker Koksal Toptan said. The new legislation, which was backed by the opposition Nationalist Action Party, only needed 367 votes to pass.
The package amends the constitution to read that the state will treat everyone equally when it provides services such as university courses and that no one can be barred from education for reasons not clearly laid down by law, an allusion to young women who wear headscarves. The amendments now need to be approved by President Abdullah Gul, a former AKP member who has yet to veto any law put forward by the government.