AKP to have candidates with headscarves, Erdogan says

After announcing a democratization package earlier this week that lifted a headscarf ban for women in public office, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a live interview on a private channel on Thursday that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was likely to name a headscarved female candidate in the March 2014 local elections. "Yes, we will have a candidate wearing a headscarf. I cannot say how many and where, but a woman wearing headscarf will run for the AKP," Erdogan said. The issue of whether Erdogan will run for the presidency in next year's presidential elections was again raised during the interview by reporters. Erdogan said he hasn't made his decision on whether he will run in the presidential elections, adding, "I will make my decision after conducting consultations with my friends within the party." Touching upon Turkey's selection of a Chinese missile system, Erdogan said the decision was solely taken on certain strategic preferences, adding, "The selection of the Chinese missile system for our long-range air defense system is based on simple strategic calculations. First of all, the Chinese system is cheaper than others. Second and more important thing is the factor of technology transfer that Turkey urgently needs. It will be a joint production," Erdogan also said the government would reopen Istanbul's Halki Seminary as soon as Greece takes reciprocal steps on Turkey's demands regarding the construction of mosques in Athens. "We will solve the Halki Seminary issue. We have discussed this frequently with Greece's prime ministers and foreign ministers. This is something [that can be done in a moment] for us. I told them that there are two mosque projects in Athens. I asked them to give us the permission to build them," Erdogan noted.