Turkish politician Merve Kavakci spoke last night at the Kennedy School of Government's Starr auditorium about being expelled from the Turkish parliament in 1999 for wearing a headscarf.

She told the packed auditorium that she was elected to the parliament but prevented from taking her oath of office because her headscarf, associated with Muslim conservatism, was viewed as a threat to the secular culture. Her citizenship was then revoked.

Kavakci, a "daughter of academicians," said it was a violation of her "freedom of conscience."

"My scarf is my personal belief; I simply have to wear it," Kavakci said.

She said these kinds of rulings against religious expression are not uncommon in Turkey. She was expelled from medical school for the same reason.

She discussed a similar case of a schoolgirl who was denied permission to take an exam wearing a headscarf.

Rejecting her teacher's request for her to "dress up like a human being," the girl was forcibly removed by police, refused hospital treatment and imprisoned, according to Kavakci.

Kavakci said these occurrences prompted her to become a champion of "human rights goals back home."