Word: parliament
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...secularism, continuing to ban it may be the riskier move for the secular republic. Powerful interest groups, as well as the general public—60 percent, according to one opinion poll—oppose the headscarf ban, and over 400 members of Turkey’s 550-member parliament voted for its repeal. Maintaining the ban despite such opposition would only foster further resentment against the government and its secular policies. The past generation has witnessed the ferocious backlash that can result against a blanket secularism imposed tactlessly, most notably in the streets of Tehran in 1979. Removing this...
Last Saturday, the Turkish Parliament voted to overturn a long-standing ban on Islamic headscarves in universities—a ban that has long protected the secularism of the classroom from the growing influence of religious conservatives. Tens of thousands protested the repeal, arguing that a repeal on the ban is the first step to increasing Islam’s influence on society and a serious threat to a non-religious public life. While the ban may seem anathema to Western liberal countries that prioritize freedom of religious exercise, the unique political and demographic characteristics of Turkey have made...
...Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch liberal member of the European Parliament, says the E.U. has been blindly replicating unproven U.S. laws without thinking them through. "Every time the U.S. comes up with a new rule, the E.U. whines about it for a while, but then adopts same measure. But do they actually make the world a safer place?" she says. "Nobody in their right mind opposes real security measures, but I fear we are creating the illusion of security. Let's not pretend that taking fingerprints will eradicate crime, violence and terrorism...
...proposals will have to be confirmed by E.U. governments and the European Parliament, and Frattini hopes that concerns about the fingerprinting will be outweighed by reassurances over the eventual security benefits. But he is already facing an uphill battle to disprove assumptions that the E.U. has an innate impulse to create red tape to keep tabs on its citizens...
...Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet after Maliki refused to set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal. When the government did not collapse, Satterfield argued, the limits of al-Sadr's political power were exposed. That's when Maliki no longer felt the need to protect his biggest constituent in Parliament and gave U.S. forces the green light to enter Sadr City, the cleric's popular stronghold in north Baghdad. Ever since, Iraqi and U.S. units have been arresting commanders of the militia who have not gone underground...