ISTANBUL (CiHAN) - The Turkish parliament speaker Bülent Arinc told a press conference on Sunday the headscarf was not banned in any of the member country of the European Council (EC).
The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) speaker Bülent Arinc held a press conference in Ataturk Airport in Istanbul following his return from the official visit to Holland where he attended EU parliament speakers conference. Commenting on the European Court of Human Rights (EHRC) ruling that banning headscarves in state schools does not violate the freedom of religion and is a valid way to counter fundamentalism, Arinc said that certain freedom in the European Human Rights Convention could be interpreted in different ways. "Therefore, It is not possible to like or dislike the decision, or recognize or reject it as valid decision."
The European Court of Human Rights last week ruled that that Turkey could maintain its ban on headscarves at universities to defend its secular state and to counter pressure from fundamentalists.
Arinc told the reporters that he got positive impression from his counterparts in talks in the Holland on Turkey's EU membership aspiration.
Regarding the headscarves issue and secularism, Arýnc said that secularism has been interpreted in various ways in Europe. "Despite all these difference on interpretations on secularism, there is not a single European Council member country that bans headscarves in universities. In France, the headscarves ban is in practice in primary schools and public institutions. Other EC member countries have interpreted even this ban in different.
"In democratic countries, the freedoms should be essential while the bans should be exception. The freedoms should not be banned if they do not inspire terror and violence, and do not disturb the public order and do not encourage people to commit crime," Turkish parliament speaker advised.
Parliament speaker said that he held talks with parliament speakers of Italy, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, Bulgaria and Greece during the Dutch visits.