Ankara  - The lifting of Turkey's ban on the wearing of Islamic-style headscarves at universities was being discussed in the Constitutional Court on Thursday, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The court, which was expected to reach a verdict later on Thursday or on Friday, was discussing whether constitution reforms pushed through parliament by the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) were indeed constitutional.

The issue of allowing students at universities to wear the Islamic head covering is the focal point of a trial against the AKP that could see the party closed down and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan banned from politics.

Staunch secularists see the government's moves to allow the headscarf into universities as proof that the AKP seeks to ultimately introduce sharia, or Islamic law, in Turkey.

The government responds that the bans currently in place are a violation of the right to freedom of religion. (dpa)