Turkey has appointed its first Hijab wearing Minister in the form of Aysen Gurcan. The 52 year old academic was appointed on Friday to the role of Minister in charge of family and social policies in the provisional government of Prime Minster Ahmet Davotoglu. The provisional government will run until the November 1st elections.
A mother of three she is also a board member of the Foundation for Youth and Education, (TURGEV). Also on the Executive, is Bilal Erdogan, the son of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Ergodan.
This is another step in the country’s move to accommodate the Islamic religious roots of the country and would have been an unthinkable step in the last ten years. However, Turkey is divided along religious and secular lines and with the country split down the centre with those calling for secularism to form the foundation of the State and those calling for its basis on its Islamic heritage.