The much-debated headscarf ban at Turkish universities may soon be overturned. Credit: Reuters

Turkey's president, Abdullah Gül, late last month appointed a little-known sociologist as president of the country's powerful higher-education board, YüK.

Yusuf Ziya üzcan is considered a moderate in a country where tensions between secularists and Islamists, particularly at universities, have been increasing. His research has included studies on the role of Islam in society. But his surprise appointment ? he has little experience of university administration ? has not pleased everyone. YüK's deputy head, engineer Aybar Ertepinar, immediately resigned.

üzcan, from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, says he wants to lift 'all bans' in universities, implicitly referring to the highly politicized ban on headscarves. He adds that he wants all universities to become autonomous institutions and to "attach a greater importance to being scientific".