ANKARA: Turkish Parliament has lifted a ban on women lawmakers wearing trousers in the assembly, shortly after a major government reform allowed them to don Islamic head scarves.

The end to the trouser prohibition was approved late Wednesday when ruling party lawmakers backed a motion on it.

The issue came to the fore after a female opposition lawmaker with a prosthetic leg and arm, Safak Pavey, complained in a parliamentary address last month about being forced to wear skirts in the chamber.

In late October, four female lawmakers from the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) attended Parliament wearing head scarves, breaking a long taboo in the staunchly secular country.

The AKP has a comfortable majority in the 550-seat Parliament with 327 deputies. There are a total of 79 female lawmakers.