AKP, MHP REACH ACCORD ON ENDING HEADSCARF BAN AT UNIVERSITIES
Officials of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) yesterday met to discuss a package of constitutional changes meant to solve the headscarf issue. After the five-hour meeting, the two parties reached an agreement to amend Articles 10 of the Constitution, which ensures the equality of all citizens, and Article 42, which guarantees access to education for all, as well as supplemental Article 17 of the Board of Higher Education (YOK) Law. The proposal is expected to go to the Cabinet this week and later to the full Parliament after facing Parliament's Constitutional Committee. AKP leader and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and MHP leader Devlet Bahceli are expected today to announce details of the changes proposed for both headscarves and the Constitution. /Aksam-Today's Zaman/
CHP'S OZYUREK: "SECULARISM IS AT RISK"
Ending the ban on headscarves at universities would cripple the principle of secularism, said main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Mustafa Ozyurek yesterday. "These changes would push Turkey into a religious state," he claimed. "They would deal a huge blow to the secular republic." He added that if the ban is lifted, his party would challenge the move at the Constitutional Court. /Hurriyet/
DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF IN WASHINGTON TO COORDINATE ANTI-PKK EFFORTS
Gen. Ergin Saygun, the deputy chief of General Staff, yesterday traveled to Washington to meet with his US counterparts. Their talks are set to discuss closer coordination of US and Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) efforts to fight the terrorist PKK. In addition, today and tomorrow, Saygun and Mary Beth Long, US assistant secretary of defense for international security, will co-chair the annual meetings of the US-Turkish High-Level Defense Group, a mechanism used by senior officials and generals to review the two countries' military and defense relationship. The last round of talks was held in Ankara last year. Saygun is expected to return to Turkey next week after visiting military bases throughout the US. /Turkiye/
PARLIAMENTARY ENVOY IN PARIS
A delegation led by European Union Harmonization Committee Chairman Yasar Yakis went to Paris yesterday to hold talks with French parliamentarians on bilateral relations and Turkey's European Union membership bid. The delegation will also meet with Turkish businessmen living in France, as well as French businessmen. /Turkish Daily News/
PACE RAPPORTEUR TO VISIT TURKEY FOR REPORT ON MINORITY RIGHTS
A Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur is scheduled to visit Turkey next week, PACE said on its website. The rapporteur is working on a report on religious freedom and other human rights among non-Muslim minorities in Turkey and Muslim minorities in Greece's Western Thrace region. /Today's Zaman/
AUSTRALIAN PLATFORM TO BEGIN DRILLING FOR OIL IN CANAKKALE STRAIT
The Atwood Southern Cross, an Australian-flagged giant floating platform, yesterday reached the Strait of Canakkale (Gallipoli) to begin oil exploration in Aegean territorial waters. The platform is set to begin its first drilling tomorrow in the Gulf of Saros. /Aksam/