"Turkey Fights For A Secular Islam
Thousands of Turkish students have protested in the capital of Ankara against a government plan to allow women to wear the hijab to Turkish Universities. The students believe the move would gain a foothold for stricter Islam in the country which was founded as a modern, secular Republic. The Parliament is expected to approve this constitutional amendment on the ban soon. Turkey has always been a progressive Islamic country formed on the conquered ruins of the Byzantine Christian Empire, and is the only Muslim state in the European Union. Turkey has been a hotbed of debate between Islam and secularism recently with the election of President Abdullah Gül, whose first bid was blocked by the Constitutional court in secularist concern for his views on Islam and the fact his wife wears the hijab. The hijab is largely seen in Turkey as a symbol of political Islam, not cultural Islam. Protesters in Ankara gathered around the tomb of Atakurk, the secular revolution's founder:"
More:Unambiguously Ambidextrous: Turkey Fights For A Secular Islam
