"I think it is wrong that those who have no relation with this field (of religion) make such a decision ... without consulting scholars," Erdogan said.

ANKARA, November 16, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed on Wednesday the European Court of Human Rights ruling upholding hijab ban in Turkish universities, saying the court had acted outside its mandate.

"On this issue, the court has no right to speak. That right belongs to the scholars of Islam," Erdogan was quoted by the Milliyet newspaper as saying, Reuters reported.

"I think it is wrong that those who have no relation with this field (of religion) make such a decision ... without consulting scholars," he added.

Last week, the Strasbourg-based court ruled that Turkey's hijab ban in universities did not contravene human rights or religious freedom.

The ruling was a disappointment to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party which has been working to relax a strict hijab ban in universities and public offices, but faces fierce opposition from the secular establishment.

Turkey's secular system, which includes the president, the powerful military General Staff, judges and university rectors, fear that Erdogan's efforts would result in eroding the separation of state and religion.

Erdogan, however, says he merely wants to allow full freedom of religious expression in Turkey, a European Union candidate country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population.

He had earlier denounced the hijab ban as a restriction of religious freedom and freedom of education.

Criticism

Erdogan's remarks drew fire from his opponents.

"Erdogan has shown his true colors," said Haluk Koc, a senior member of the main opposition centre-left Republican People's Party.

"But Turkey will not become a state of ayatollahs," he said, a reference to neighboring Iran.

In 1997, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer issued a decree banning hijab in state-run institutions, including schools and universities.

He also bans hijab-donned women from frequenting any social clubs affiliated to the military institution.

Even veiled journalists have been repeatedly prevented from covering news conferences inside government institutions.

Virtue MP Merve Kavakci triggered outrage among fellow deputies when she attempted to take her parliamentary oath in 1999 wearing a headscarf. She was never allowed to take her seat.

In May 2002, Turkey’s Religious Consultative Council issued a fatwa, stating that hijab is an inalienable religious right to women and should be respected.

France has triggered a controversy by adopting a bill banning hijab in state schools, a move blasted as "discriminatory" by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).