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Abstract: The intersection of religion and politics has always been a volatile subject in Turkey. From the first years of the Republic to the present day, political leaders have had to balance the secular interests of the state with the religious beliefs of the public. Historically, it has been the religious public who has carried the brunt of this balancing act, specifically women. For decades, Muslim women wearing headscarves for religious reasons were fenced out of the public sphere because of a belief that their outwardly manifested religious beliefs threatened the secular structure of the Republic. They could not attend schools, hold office, or work in government offices if they chose to wear a headscarf. In 2013, most of these barriers were lifted through a by-law allowing headscarf-wearing women to work in most government offices. Although a step in the right direction, the by-law falls short of creating an equal space for all women as it continues to keep headscarf-wearing women out of crucial state offices, including the military, the judiciary, and the police force. With such limitations, the by-law reinforces the belief that headscarf-wearing women are not welcome in all public spaces.
INTRODUCTION
In the fall of 2013, a group of teachers and their eighth grade students went to a military dining facility in Istanbul for a dinner event.1 Everyone was allowed entrance into the facility, except for a female teacher wearing a headscarf.2 Senior military officers told her that she would either have to take off her headscarf or be denied entrance.3 Although the woman tried to reason with the officers and reminded them of her rights, she was forced to leave the facility.4 Today, a headscarf-wearing woman in Turkey is denied entrance into certain state facilities solely because her appearance expresses religious belief.5
In its efforts to offer democratizing reforms, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey's ruling party, unveiled a new ?democratization package? in September 2013.6 The proposed reforms included implementing changes to the electoral system, imposing harsher punishment for hate crimes, improving the rights of Kurds, and finally, removing restrictions on the wearing of Islamic headscarves, among many others.7 Whereas most of the proposed reforms have not yet been implemented, the government has already removed the ban on headscarves...