Crowds take to streets protesting proposed headscarf changes

Even as Parliament was voting on the matter, as many as 200,000 people gathered in the capital Ankara on Saturday to protest the government's move to allow the wearing of headscarves at universities. Secularists from across the country, including judges, scholars, and representatives from 76 non-governmental organizations, gathered in the Sihhiye district and chanted �Turkey is secular and will remain secular!" Similar rallies were held in other provinces throughout the country. In related news, the Turkish Bar Association issued a declaration signed by 41 heads of regional bars criticizing the proposal to end the ban. Warning of a possible regime crisis, the lawyers said that the government's move had sowed public division and so urged a resolution through democratic means.