Teachers in the north up in arms over hijab

Turkish Cypriot educators in the Turkish-occupied north are up in arms over the appointment of a teacher who showed up at her school wearing a hijab.

According to Turkish Cypriot media, teachers at a high school in Lapithos/Lapta refused to enter their classrooms as a sign of protest against their new colleague’s appointment.

The female teacher was assigned by the Turkish Cypriot administration to her duties on October 25, according to daily Yeni Duzen, while other media reported that officials tried to accommodate demands by protesters but without making it clear whether the appointment had been rescinded.

KTOEOS teachers trade union chairwoman Selma Eylem, who said the issue was not about the dress code, pointed fingers at what she described as attempts by Turkey to impose “political Islam” onto the Turkish Cypriot community.

[Kathimerini Cyprus]