Turkish woman wins Belgium vote as first headscaved MP
A headscaved woman of Turkish origin won a vote to become a deputy although women in Turkey are still banned from any public services.
World Bulletin / News Desk A headscaved woman of Turkish origin won a vote to become a deputy although women in Turkey are still banned from any public services.
Turkey still insists on imposing headscarf ban as a country whose population is 99 percent Muslim and majority of women wear headscarf as a religious practice. Mahinur Ozdemir, a 28-year-old and Turk, entered the Brussels Regional Parliament, an achievement that is the first in Belgian history, Turkish media said.
Acted as a councillorship in Schaerbeek Municipality, whic is called "Turkish Quarter" in Brussels since 2006, Ozdemir added her success story one more chapter as a new generation of Turks. Ozdemir graduated from the human resources program in Brussels Free University (ULB). Got a graduate degree on public administration, the new deputy worked as an executive assistant for Frankafon Christian Democrats Party chairman Joëlle Milquet.
In Belgium's regional parliamentary elections on June 7, 6 with Turkish origin out of 60 candidates won the elections. Frankafon Christian Democrats candidate Mahinur Ozdemir, who got 2 thousand 851 vote to win, was also the target of extreme right parties during election campaigns because of her veil. Some media outlets published news and commentaries against Ozdemir, and there were tensions within the party when election posters with her head-covered photo was blocked out with 'photoshop'.
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