Turkey opts out of European Wushu due to 'headscarf ban'

SAKARYA, Turkey

 Turkey will not participate in any event organized by the European Wushu Federation because of its alleged ban on women wearing headscarves, a senior official of Turkey’s Wushu Federation said Wednesday.

"In 2014, we did not take along women athletes from Turkey to the championship, but this year we have decided not to attend the event itself," Abdurrahman Akyuz, Turkish official of the International Wushu Federation, told The Anadolu Agency. 

Akyuz said that the decision was made in protest after the European Wushu Federation ruled that sportswomen wearing headscarves could not take part in the competition.

"We, as Turkey, do not recognize the European Wushu Federation anymore and declared it to the International Wushu Federation," he added.

Also, he said that Italy and France too had decided to stay out of the European Wushu Federation over what it said was "maladministration" reasons.

In 2013, Akyuz's daughter and Turkey's national athlete, Zeynep Akyuz, did not get any score when she performed at the competition wearing a headscarf.

The federation had said the girl’s costume did not conform to the federation's rules. "There are clear and strict rules about different kinds of competition costume and its parts," it said.

In response, Zeynep Akyuz had said that the European Wushu Federation's decision to ban women who wore headscarves was "disrespectful" to the Islamic world.

In addition, World Champion Alif Akyuz called the decision "shameful" for Turkish society and Islamic world.

Wushu is a martial arts form that originated in China.