Ban on Head Scarves Voted Out in Turkey

Opposition parties promised lawsuits to block the measure.

In many ways, the vote was an acknowledgment that Turkey has become a more religiously conservative society. As economic prosperity increases the ranks of the middle class, observant Muslims are outnumbering the Western-looking elite.

Polls consistently show that about 60 percent of people in Turkey favor allowing women to wear traditional head scarves in public.

"We're happy about the law, but we're not happy that they only accept one version on the head scarf," said Burcu Cakimanoglu, 22, who said she had to take off her scarf every time she went to her job at a university cafeteria.

"Every style of head scarf must be accepted," she said. "God willing, this process will continue."

Analysts said religious parties could easily draw millions into the streets in support of head scarves, dwarfing protests by secular Turks against the scarves. The religious parties largely have refrained from such shows of force, not wanting to shock either the military or secular civil society.

"This is a matter of Turkish democracy, so it's quite hard for the military to create a reaction," said Tanju Tosun, a political analyst at Ege University in the city of Ismir.

"While most Turks love Ataturk and follow his cultural way of modernization, we know that unfortunately there is a growing trend of Islamic movements in Turkey," Tosun said. "The military has no choice -- it must accept this result."

Knickmeyer reported from Jerusalem.