The Islamic veil across Europe
There is no ban on Islamic dress in the UK.
At least four German states have gone on to ban teachers from wearing headscarves and in the state of Hesse the ban applies to all civil servants.
Russia's Supreme Court has overturned a 1997 interior ministry ruling which forbade women from wearing headscarves in passport photos.
In September 2004 local politicians in the north of Italy resurrected old laws against the wearing of masks, to ban women from wearing the all-over burqa.
In July 05 the Italian parliament approved anti-terrorist laws which make hiding one's features from the public - including through wearing the burqa - an offence.
The city of Maaseik, on the Dutch border, has banned the niqab, which covers the whole body except for the eyes.
For the past 80 years Turks have lived in a secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who rejected headscarves as backward-looking in his campaign to secularise Turkish society.
Even so, it is estimated that as many as 65% of Turkish women cover their heads with a scarf.
Nonetheless, scarves are banned in civic spaces, including schools, universities - state or private - and official buildings.
In November 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled the ban was legitimate.
A ban on Muslim headscarves and other "conspicuous" religious symbols at state schools was introduced in 2004.
However, headscarves can be worn in Muslim schools, and at university level, where the law on religious signs does not apply.
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk