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Turkish opposition leader does not want the army to enter foreign territory

September 29, 2014 at 2:28 pm

The leader of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has said that he does not want to see the army enter foreign territory. Speaking during a visit to Bolu in north-west Turkey, Kemal Kilicadroglu pointed out that if the army is sent into Syria and Iraq, “we will see the consequences.” His comments came in response to a memorandum issued to the Turkish armed forces about a possible deployment in October.

Kilicadroglu was also asked about the government lifting the ban on girls wearing hijab in schools. “The concept of freedom is different among children than it is for adults,” he replied, “so it is wrong to say that girls should wear the veil and go to school because this, after all, is a question of guidance.” It should be added that the veil has not been made compulsory by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The CHP leader pointed out that Turkey has made a lot of progress during the Republican era: “Turkey has designed and manufactured planes and submarines in the past. Can we do that today? Why not? It is wrong for us to discuss whether or not our girls should veil. There are other important things we need to talk about and we need to impose our opinions on this matter.”

He accused the government in Ankara of bringing the issue of hijab to the forefront in order to distract the Turkish people from other, more important, topics. “We must not fall into this trap and our education system should be in line with this era as we are a modern society,” he insisted. “We should not concern ourselves with today’s Middle East.”