Erdogan: "We're the protector of secularism"

Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that there are expectations that the headscarf issue will be solved, adding that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are continuing to work together towards that end. Criticizing main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, Erdogan said that politicians are supposed to work to solve problems. He pledged that there would never be discrimination between women wearing headscarves and those who don't and that they will protect the rights of both. "If you give an opportunity to only one sector of society to go to university, while others cannot, this would be discrimination,"he said. "In this country, no one forces others to wear headscarves."Addressing Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301, Erdogan stated that he had urged non-governmental organizations to express their views on the controversial law, and that the AKP is determined to change it. Stating that there have long been debates over the regime in Turkey, Erdogan reiterated that his party is not based on religion. "We do not seek to establish a religious state,"he asserted. "We said this when we first established our party. Some circles keep repeating the same thing. Even years ago when I was elected mayor of Istanbul, they used to say Turkey would be a religious state. I have been active in politics for many, many years. Have they seen even the slightest move towards this end?"Erdogan also touched upon a planned change to the Board of Higher Education (YOK) Law. "We will begin work on Article 17 of the YOK Law after the Constitutional Court releases its decision on constitutional amendments (to lift the university headscarf ban), if the CHP challenges them,"he added.