Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to enshrine the right to wear a headscarf in the constitution with the help of the opposition. "Let's find a solution at the constitutional level, not at the legal level," Erdogan said at a meeting of his conservative Islamic AK party in Ankara.

The Turkish opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu had previously submitted a draft law to parliament that would guarantee the right to wear a headscarf in public authorities and institutions. Accordingly, women should not be restricted in their basic rights when choosing their clothes.

The election campaign in view

Erdogan criticized that the text presented to Parliament was far from covering the problem in all its dimensions. The head of state accused the opposition of "hypocrisy" because it was thanks to his ruling party to secure such rights in the past. The AKP, which has been in power since 2002, gradually lifted a headscarf ban in public institutions.

Kilicdaroglu surprised with his initiative because his party, the social-democratic CHP, traditionally upholds the separation between the state and religious institutions (secularism) as one of the foundations of the Turkish republic. Observers assume that the opposition leader would like to win voters from Erdogan's traditional milieu for his party. The parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for next June. The election campaign is gaining momentum.