BERLIN - Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday the removal of the ban on headscarf in universities was assessed in terms of right and freedom to education and freedom of religion and conscience.
In an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Erdogan commented on the recent developments regarding the headscarf issue.
Upon a question on the remarks of certain milieu who criticized the lifting of the ban claiming that such a move would be the first step towards Islamization, Erdogan said, "this is wrong. Headscarf is not the only way to practice Islam. We assess this issue within the framework of the right and freedom to education and freedom of religion and conscience".
"A secular state should stand at an equal distance to all religious groups. It should not be closer to a particular group, while it stays distant to another one. If there is discrimination in our country, then the responsible people are those who had closed the doors of universities to youngsters with headscarf," he added.
Replying to a question on whether delaying the amendments on Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code meant that Turkey gave up efforts for its EU membership, Erdogan said the amendments on the article would most probably be discussed again in the upcoming weeks.
"However we do not plan to abrogate the article totally," he said.

-EU PROCESS-
Commenting on Turkey`s EU adhesion process, Erdogan said 6 out of 35 chapters were opened to negotiation and Turkey expected 3 or 4 more chapters to be opened during Slovenia`s EU presidency.
"Our target is full membership. We have no other alternative than that. Rules cannot be changed after the game starts. No one can demand things which are out of the scope of the chapter headings now," Erdogan said .

-VISIT TO SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA-
Repyling to a question on whether his upcoming visit to Southeastern Anatolia after the cross-border operation was over, would be a start for the political solution of the Kurdish issue, Erdogan said, "I will talk about the problems of the region and the whole country during my visit. We have never been against a political ouverture on this issue".

-FIRE IN LUDWIGSHAFEN-
Commenting on the recent fire in Ludwigshafen, Germany, that killed 9 Turks including 5 children, Erdogan said, "We are coming from a civilization which teaches to respect others. If we depend on love, peace can be achieved".
(DO-ULG)