Lipstick ban reversed: Turkish Airlines is backpedaling on a ban forbidding female flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish. Thursday, Turkish Airline's chief exec said that they will no longer go through with the lipstick ban.

Last month, Turkish Airlines banned lipstick on flight attendants, saying that the use of red or dark pink lipstick or nail polish would hurt the "visual integrity" of its staff. The current lipstick ban reversal follows an outcry by secular Turks who are concerned that Turkey is becoming too Islamic.

Many Turks complained on Twitter and other social media. The president of Turkish Airlines' Hava-Is union, Atilay Aycin, said it was an attempt by the management "to shape the company to fit its own political and ideological stance".

Chief Executive Temel Kotil told press in London that the order was made by junior managers who did not consult their superiors.  "As to the lipstick, we had no problems but somehow low-level managers put together a paper without asking us and that paper leaked to the media and became a big issue," he said.  He confirmed that the ban was off, saying "As you know, some in Turkey are a little bit keen about these issues. We are a great global carrier and we know what we are doing."

Turkey is 99%  Muslim, but has a secular constitution and is a NATO member. Recent relaxation in state policies that called for hijab or other Islamic-style head scarves have also raised controversy. While the policies were designed to improve women's rights and curb fundamentalist Islamism, they've also prevented many devout Muslim women from taking government jobs or studying at university.