LAHORE, FEB 22, (DNA) – In a landmark development today in Turkey, the army officers have finally been allowed wearing headscarves as the ban was removed on Wednesday.

The ban had been imposed through a regulation in 1982 that banned wearing headscarves at all workplaces including the army. However, the regulation has remained a subject of much debate during the last few years. It was extended to the universities in 1997 and that was when the argument against it started gaining momentum.

However, the ban has been removed today according to the state media in the army as well. Previously, it had been lifted at the university campuses in 2010 and then from high schools in 2014 but the Turkish army that has traditionally been more secular than the overall population never approved of lifting the ban.

Today, this ban has been lifted. The secular ideologues have always criticised the Erdogan government over its conservative outlook and decisions but the government rejected the criticism today saying that it has only allowed people to wear whatever they want to.

It is pertinent to mention here that several European countries have already allowed their policewomen to wear headscarves when on work.=DNA

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