women are fighting for their right to wear it.95 In both cases, there is one similarity: women are fighting for the freedom of choice, for the right to choose whether or not to wear a veil.

Although, Mustafa Kemal founded a modern secular Turkish republic, the headscarf ban was only informally practiced during his rule with no distinct legislation that would ban wearing a hijab in the state institutions. However, for those who wanted to become promoted, it was encouraged not to wear a hijab. The ban was legally enacted only after the military coup of 1980 when General Kenan Evren took power. The headscarf ban implies that it is prohibited by law to wear a headscarf in universities and state offices. In February 2008, the ban was lifted for university students. However, later that year after the protests of secular parties, the lift on the ban was annulled by the

Constitutional Court. Turkish courts as well as the military are the main custodians of secularism. Since 2010 some universities have been unofficially allowing their students to wear headscarves. Turkey is a secular country, but it is diverse and contains different regions and groups. There are still differences in people's mentality and culture in the

West and East of Turkey. In big and touristic cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Bodrum and

Antaliya people feel closer to Europe and the Western world, and fewer women are veiled, while in the eastern provinces of Turkey, people tend to have a more conservative mentality and more women wear headscarves. According to the 2008 Gallup Poll, 45% of

Turkish women said that they wore a hijab in public.96 According to the same survey in

2008, 7 percent of the Turkish people agreed that Shari'a should be the only source of

95 Mustafa Kemal also prohibited the men to wear fez, imposing European hats on them. 96 2008 Gallup poll, accessed February 12, 2012, http://www.gallup.com/poll/104257/Headscarves- Secularism-Voices-From-Turkish-Women.aspx. 31