Turkish police chief dons headscarf in ceremony for first time

A female police chief attending a ceremony adds a headscarf to her uniform for the first time after the attire restrictions for police women were removed on August 27, as the law was published in the Official Gazette.

The ceremony was held in Istanbul's Taksim district for celebrating the August 30 Victory Day of Turkey. August 30th is Victory Day, when the Turkish nation annually celebrates Turkey's victory over Greek forces in the 5-day 1922 Battle of Dumlupınar, which occurred in the western province of Kütahya.

The ceremony started with a minute of silence and the national anthem. The Istanbul Garrison and Metropolitan Municipality left a wreath on the Republic Monument in the ceremony.

The ceremony was held amid high security measures.

Turkish police women in uniform have been allowed to don headscarf on duty, reports said. Restrictions on the uniforms of the police women have been removed in the new regulations, recently published in the Official Gazette on August 27.

Authorities are to allow women in uniform to wear a headscarf on duty. Women wearing Islamic headscarf have been allowed to join police forces in the frame of the new uniform regulations.

This move aims to expand the scope of the democratization package, led by the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lifted the decades-old ban on Sept. 30, 2013 on the headscarf in the state institutions as part of a democratization package to improve freedom. In that era, Erdoğan's move was widely seen as a challenge to the country's secular traditions.

When AK Party took a strong lead municipal elections in March 30, 2014, two headscarf-wearing candidates ensured to have the office of mayor in the district's offices. The headscarves were banned in Parliament until late 2013 until the election of the headscarved mayors is considered a vital moment in Turkey's history as a secular republic.