AMMAN -- The controversy over the legality of the wearing of Muslim headscarves at universities in Turkey has taken a new turn this week that could lead to a serious political confrontation between hardcore secular institutions and the ruling party in parliament and government.

This year the Turkish Constitutional Court will hear a crucial petition aimed at banning the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), including its leader, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul, and 70 more AKP politicians. This will be the fifth petition in the history of the court to prohibit political parties. It granted four in the past.

Turkish shares and currency regained some of their losses in trading Tuesday after falling more than 7 percent the previous day over investor shock by an attempt of the countrys top prosecutor to ban the Islamist-rooted ruling party for undermining the nations secular system.

The Turkish military said Friday it has launched ground operations into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels, but did not mention the scale and intended duration of the assault that could last long enough to destabilize the only relatively peaceful area in war-torn Iraq.

The Turkish parliament has given preliminary approval for a constitutional amendment allowing women university students to wear headscarves in classes, a step toward civil liberties, but one that some think could eventually unravel the countrys strict 85-year-old secular system.

One of the facts of the presidency of George W. Bush is that this president is not a big fan of state dinners, galas and fancy pageantry. So, when a Turkish journalist commented last week that Turkeys President Abdullah Gul, who was on an official visit to Washington, would be having a "quick lunch" with President Bush, the Turkish media translated "quick lunch" as "fast-food."

The president of Turkey, on a visit to Washington, D.C., has ruled out any possibility of a negotiated political solution with the Kurdistan Workers Party, a militant secessionist group that Ankara has been battling for more than 20 years.