Journalist Wearing Headscarf Denied Entry at European Parliament
The Anadolu Agency correspondent was already accredited to cover the plenary
session of the European Parliament and follow the participation of the Turkish
Minister for EU Volkan Bozkır.
However, once she showed up at the reception to get an accreditation card,
European Parliament employees told her to remove her headscarf for an ID photo.
The journalist refused their request as she attended EP sessions several times
since 2014 and never received such a request.
Once she called the EP's media office to explain them the incident, a press
officer told her to "try to enter from another door".
"I cannot grant you the accreditation card without you taking a photo
without the headscarf," press officer said.
A cameraman with the Turkish news channel TRT Haber, who was on site and tried
to film the scene, was escorted out by a security officer, who also forced him
to delete the video clip.
The security guard denied access to other Turkish journalists, too, while
threatening to withdraw the accreditation of the TRT cameraman.
Later, a protocol officer arrived and said that there was a
"misunderstanding" and proposed to the Anadolu Agency reporter to
partially remove her scarf, before retreating it when the Anadolu Agency
reporter questioned the legal basis of his request.
Finally, the reporter was able to enter the parliament building. She also had
the confirmation of the Permanent Delegation of Turkey to the Council of Europe
that there is no regulation against wearing a headscarf at the European
Parliament or the Council of Europe.
Source: Daily Sabah
