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Turkish president backs lifting of headscarf ban
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The move could increase political tensions in Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership, analysts say. Financial markets are closely watching the headscarf debate.
The secular elite views the ban as vital for the separation of state and religion in the mainly Muslim but constitutionally secular country.
The secularists accuse the AK Party of plotting to boost the role of Islam in Turkey, a claim Erdogan and his party deny.
"This trend is one towards religious dictatorship. Turkey's problem is that religion is used as a tool in politics," said Sabih Kanadoglu, a retired supreme court chief prosecutor, according to the CNN Turk broadcaster's website.
Some secularists fear any relaxation of the ban would put pressure on women to wear the headscarf against their will.
"I don't think we should make such predictions. If such things happen people can go to court or to the police to take action but we cannot deny people their rights because of predictions," said the columnist Disli, who wears the headscarf.
The powerful military, which views itself as the ultimate guarantor of Turkey's secular order, has not yet commented but is unlikely to welcome the latest moves.
The army has ousted four democratically elected governments in the past 50 years, most recently in 1997 when with public support it drove out a cabinet it viewed as too Islamist.
The AK Party insists that wearing the headscarf is a matter of personal freedom in a country where two-thirds of women cover their heads. Opinion polls show strong public support for lifting the ban.
An increasingly wealthy but pious middle class is emerging in Turkey and it wants to practice its religion more freely.
(Editing by Andrew Roche)
