Erdoğan proposes nationwide vote on right to wear headscarf in state institutions

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday proposed a nationwide vote on guaranteeing a woman's right to wear a headscarf in state institutions, schools and universities.

The subject is particularly important for Erdoğan, whose ruling party lifted a long-standing ban on wearing the hijab in state institutions in 2013.

The headscarf issue has dominated political debate in recent months ahead of general elections in 2023.

Erdoğan often refers to the ban's lifting as an example of how his party represents devout Muslim Turks against secular parties that ruled Türkiye before his party's arrival in 2002.

"If you have the courage, come, let's put this issue to a referendum... Let the nation make the decision," Erdoğan said in remarks aimed at the main opposition party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Kılıçdaroğlu leads the secular CHP, a party established by the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The CHP leader had proposed a law to guarantee the right to wear a headscarf to alleviate any fears his party would reinstate the ban.

The headscarf was at the centre of debates in the 1990s but no party today proposes a ban in Muslim-majority Türkiye.

"We had made mistakes in the past regarding the headscarf," Kılıçdaroğlu admitted earlier this month. "It's time to leave that issue behind us."

In response, Erdoğan proposed a constitutional change that would "soon" be sent for approval to the parliament where his party holds a small majority with his nationalist alliance partner.

But under Turkish law, changes require 400 lawmakers to pass without a need for a referendum and so the CHP would need to give its backing.

Otherwise, with 360 votes, a proposal can be put to the people.

"If this issue cannot be resolved in parliament, we will submit it to the people," Erdoğan said in a statement.