Tens of thousands of demonstrators thronged the streets of Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Saturday in reaction to the parliament’s vote passing two constitutional amendments that are the first steps toward allowing devout Muslim women to wear head scarves at the country’s universities.

The passage of the measures, calling for equal treatment from state institutions and stipulating a right to education, was expected after an initial vote on the head-scarf constitutional reform package easily won the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments early Thursday morning.

The protest was organized by a coalition of dozens of labor unions, business groups, and nongovernmental organizations, which issued a statement saying that “the head-scarf issue is in essence the issue of protecting the principle of secularism enshrined in the Constitution or renouncing it,” Agence France-Presse reported.

According to Bloomberg news, lawmakers opposed to the head-scarf measure joined the protest shortly after voting in parliament.

The passage of the controversial measures, which are expected to be formally approved soon by President Abdullah Gul, does not mean that the head-scarf ban now in effect at universities is immediately lifted. A law governing the country’s Council of Higher Education must also be amended, but at least one liberal commentator predicted to Reuters that “girls will start wearing the head scarf on campus from Monday.” —Aisha Labi