Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed on Saturday a referendum on constitutional changes that would guarantee the right to wear the Islamic headscarf in public institutions, schools and universities, AFP reported.

“If you have the courage, come, let’s put it to a referendum (…) Let the people decide,” the Turkish head of state said in a televised address to the leader of the main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who initially proposed a law that would guarantee the right to wear a veil.

Recently, a debate has erupted in Turkey regarding the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in the run-up to next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

A predominantly Muslim but constitutionally secular country, Turkey has long banned the wearing of the headscarf by public officials, schools and universities, and some places such as parliament or army headquarters.

Restrictions on wearing the headscarf were lifted in 2013 by Erdogan’s government.

Unlike in the 1990s, when the topic sparked heated debates, no political trend now proposes to ban the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in Turkey.