<p>"The burqa has no place in public service," Uwe Schuenemann told the Neue Presse regional daily. "Lower Saxony is currently looking at legal regulations for employees and officials."<br /><br />Yesterday, the western state of Hesse prohibited the wearing of the veil for civil servants, the first of Germany's 16 states to enact such a regulation.<br /><br />"Civil service employees and those who come into contact with citizens should not be veiled," said Hesse's interior minister Boris Rhein in a statement. The burqa debate in the region, home to financial centre Frankfurt, was reportedly sparked by a 39-year-old woman who had previously worn a headscarf to work then insisted she would only wear a burqa to carry out her duties.<br /><br />The city of Frankfurt prevented her from doing this. Lower Saxony's social affairs minister, Aygul Ozkan, herself of Turkish origin, said she backed a burqa ban in her state.<br />"A burqa in a public office oversteps the principle of tolerance," she told the Neue Presse.<br /><br />"The citizen must have the right to see the face of the administration," added Ozkan, Germany's first female regional minister of Turkish origin.</p>
<p>"The burqa has no place in public service," Uwe Schuenemann told the Neue Presse regional daily. "Lower Saxony is currently looking at legal regulations for employees and officials."<br /><br />Yesterday, the western state of Hesse prohibited the wearing of the veil for civil servants, the first of Germany's 16 states to enact such a regulation.<br /><br />"Civil service employees and those who come into contact with citizens should not be veiled," said Hesse's interior minister Boris Rhein in a statement. The burqa debate in the region, home to financial centre Frankfurt, was reportedly sparked by a 39-year-old woman who had previously worn a headscarf to work then insisted she would only wear a burqa to carry out her duties.<br /><br />The city of Frankfurt prevented her from doing this. Lower Saxony's social affairs minister, Aygul Ozkan, herself of Turkish origin, said she backed a burqa ban in her state.<br />"A burqa in a public office oversteps the principle of tolerance," she told the Neue Presse.<br /><br />"The citizen must have the right to see the face of the administration," added Ozkan, Germany's first female regional minister of Turkish origin.</p>