ANKARA, 15 June 2006 — A majority of Turks say a ban on women wearing the Muslim head scarf in public offices and universities should be lifted and just two fifths favor a military government, according to a poll published yesterday. The survey, conducted by scholars from two Istanbul universities and published in the liberal Radikal daily, shows Turkey, a Muslim but secular country that hopes to join the European Union, to be conservative on social and moral issues.

Three-fifth of those canvassed attributed failure in life to a lack of religious faith and said they would oppose their daughter marrying a non-Muslim. Nearly a third said boys and girls should be taught in separate classes at school. The results of the poll make fairly pleasant reading for Turkey’s ruling AK Party, which has Islamist roots, showing two-thirds back its efforts — so far unsuccessful — to relax a ban on women students and civil servants wearing the head scarf.

Many in the military, academic and judicial establishment view this ban as a key pillar of Turkey’s secular order. More than half said they were happy with the AK Party government. Turkey faces a general election by November 2007.

Forty percent of those polled said they would prefer a military-led government and nearly a third expressed dissatisfaction with the democratic process. Turkey’s powerful armed forces traditionally rank as the institution most respected by Turks. The military has ousted democratically elected governments four times in the past 50 years but has seen its powers trimmed by EU-backed reforms.

The poll confirmed falling support for Turkey joining the EU, down to 57 percent from 74 percent a few years ago. Ankara began entry talks last October, but faces more tough reforms and is also under pressure to establish ties with EU member state Cyprus under its internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government. Ankara now backs breakaway Turkish-Cypriots.

Slightly more than half of the Turks surveyed said political freedoms should be restricted and that human rights could be curtailed for the sake of national interests.

Nearly half of those surveyed said tourists spoil Turkish morality and harm its culture.

Conservative Turks are uncomfortable with the spectacle of naked or near-naked tourists soaking up the sun at Turkish resorts, though tourism is a key pillar of Turkey’s economy.

The survey, conducted in March and April by Isik and Sabanci Universities in Istanbul, canvassed the views of 1,846 people in more than 20 towns and cities across the country of 72 million.

Meanwhile, Turkey yesterday denied charges in a Council of Europe report listing it among 14 European countries that colluded in or tolerated the secret transfer of terrorism suspects by the United States. “The Turkish government and state never played a part ... and never will,” foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a press conference here.

The report, drawn up by Swiss parliamentarian Dick Marty and issued last week, named a “spider’s web” of bases around the world used by the US authorities for “extraordinary rendition” — the covert transfer of suspects to third countries or US-run detention centers. It listed Turkey — along with Sweden, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Britain, Italy, Macedonia and Germany - as countries “responsible, at varying degrees ... for violations of the rights of specific persons.” Poland, Romania, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and Greece “could be held responsible for collusion - active or passive,” it said. Turkey was also cited in a report issued yesterday by Amnesty International as a country that played a role in the transfer of terror suspects.

In another development, Turkey said it would seek compensation from neighboring Greece over a midair collision of fighter jets from the two countries if a detailed probe into the incident finds that the Greek pilot was responsible. Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan told a news conference that a Turkish military investigation into the May 23 crash was still continuing and that the findings so far were “favorable.”

Asked whether Ankara would claim compensation from Athens if the official report fully exonerates the Turkish pilot, Tan said: “Absolutely.”