The Turkish cabinet minister criticized the decision of the European Court of Justice to allow employers to ban the wearing of headscarves in the workplace, saying it was “a blow to the rights of Muslim women” and would “give racist legitimacy”.
The Supreme Court of the European Union, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), on Thursday Ruled that private employers can prohibit workers from wearing religious signs, including headscarves, in the workplace.
as a response Ibrahim KalinA spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that the move would encourage Islamophobia. “The European Court of Justice [headscarves] It’s another blow to Muslim women’s rights in the workplace,” he wrote. He said it would “fall into the hands of European militants who opposed Islam” and asked: “Whether the concept of religious freedom will now Muslims excluded? “
Fahreddin AlkinErdogan’s communications director called the decision unbelievable and “an attempt to give legitimacy to racism”.
“Instead of condemning its dark past, Europe now seeks to embrace it,” he said. “We condemn this ruling that violates human dignity.”
The ruling was made after two separate cases in which Muslim women were prohibited from wearing a headscarf to work were submitted to a German court. The first is a childcare worker. She was suspended twice and received written warnings for wearing a headscarf. The childcare center prohibits employees from wearing any religious signs to work.
The second lady is a sales assistant at a drugstore. She was told not to wear any clothes that were considered conscious political, philosophical or religious symbols. But the worker said that her headscarf was necessary for her religious beliefs and rejected the pharmacist’s ban.
The European Court of Justice stated that employers need to show a “real need” for the injunction, such as the client’s “legitimate desire”, including presenting a “neutral image to the client or preventing social disputes”.
For many years, the headscarf issue has been divided throughout Europe. In 2017, a ruling stipulated that companies can prohibit employees from wearing headscarves and other obvious religious signs under certain conditions.
On twitter, European Anti-Racism Network Said that the latest ruling would “lead to the exclusion of Muslim women from the collective narrative to be reasonable, who are increasingly portrayed as dangerous to Europe”.
