Turkey Okays Islamic Headscarf for Female Police Officers

Turkey will allow women police officers to wear Islamic headscarves while on duty, provided that they match the uniform, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Saturday.

The regulation was changed in the government’s Official Gazette and states the headscarf must be plain, without designs.

The move follows similar changes in regulations in other countries, including Canada, and comes after a ban on the burkini in local districts in France made headlines in Turkey.

Turkey, a Muslim majority but officially secular state, has a fraught history with the headscarf.

Former secular governments forbade it in universities and among civil servants.

The ruling conservative-Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been relaxing these old rules since it came to power in 2002. Liberals in Turkey have often supported efforts to undo the restrictions put in place by the old guard and the military.