ANKARA, Sept 12 (AFP) - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Saturday night married his banker son Levent at a private party at the presidential palace here, but the country's number two and three officials were conspicuous by their absence, newspapers reported Sunday.
The controversy over Muslim women wearing headscarves at official venues in secular Turkey appeared to be the reason behind the absence of Assembly Speaker Bulent Arinc and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Both are from the Justice and Development Party, which has its roots in pro-Islamic political movements but describes itself as simply "conservative", and their wives never appear in public with their head uncovered.
Sezer, a former head of the Constitutional Court, is apolitical but staunchly secular.
Newspapers reported that Sezer invited Erdogan and Arinc without their wives, to avoid the women arriving at the presidential palace in Islamic headscarves.
Erdogan pleaded an out-of-town engagement to explain his absence, but Arinc, constitutionally first in line to become head of state if the president becomes incapacitated, simply did not show up, the daily Vatan reported.
The official who married the couple twisted the knife by telling the newlyweds he hoped they would "raise children for the secular republic," another newspaper, Hurriyet, reported.
The date of the wedding, coinciding with a Moslem religious festival, also came under attack from religious circles, the Islamist daily Vakit describing the event as "shameful and against our customs because alcoholic beverages will be served on a holy day."
About 500 people attended the function, which was closed to the media.