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Witness History: Turkey's Headscarf Row

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Turkey's Headscarf Row

09/01/2017 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Turkey's Headscarf Row

In 1999 a Turkish woman MP appeared in parliament wearing a headscarf. It caused uproar.

Merve Kavakci was elected as an MP for the pro-Islamic Virtue Party and she tried to take her oath of office wearing a headscarf. But she was jeered out of parliament.

In May 1999, a newly elected woman MP for the pro-Islamic Virtue Party in Turkey, Merve Kavakci, appeared in parliament wearing a headscarf. She faced a strong reaction from secular MPs and the Prime Minister at the time. She was booed, shouted at and prevented from taking her oath of office. Merve Kavakci spoke to Cagil Kasapoglu about that day.

Photo: Merve Kavakci in the Turkish parliament. (Credit: Turkish Assembly TV)

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