It is not a day of victory, says Deputy PM

Turkey broke another taboo with the female deputies wearing headscarves and walking into Parliament without facing any fierce protest or opposition yesterday. Four women deputies from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), namely Sevde Bayazit Kacar, Gonul Bekin Sahkulubey, Nurcan Dalbudak and Gulay Samanci, announced that they intended to enter the Parliament with their headscarves after performing the Hajj duty in Mecca. Speaking on behalf of the government, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that it was not a victory day and what was meant to be done for years just came true. Arinc noted that the lawmakers from all parties showing no negative attitude towards the headscarved attitude demonstrated the maturity of Turkish democracy, adding, "There has been no negative reaction in society about the use of headscarves in Parliament, but there have been both positive and negative reactions in politics. There are some people who expected to hear ugly remarks and conflict here; you foiled their expectations. I have very much appreciated the absence of these things in Parliament today considering a fight was expected to break out over the deputies wearing a headscarf."