Turkey's top court labels law allowing to wear headscarf in universities invalid

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's top court declared constitutional changes proposed by the party that would have allowed the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in universities invalid yesterday, ordering a stay of the amendments.  



The Constitutional Court held the changes were a breach of the unalterable Article 2 of the Constitution, which states the Turkish Republic is a secular state. The court based its ruling on Article 4 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the Republic's core values, including secularism, cannot be altered. The court declared itself able to rule on the substance of a constitutional amendment, normally excluded from the court's authority by Article 148. The top court will now be able to decide on further applications to demand wearing of the headscarf in universities, based on this decision, effectively rendering them inconsistent with the Constitution. 



The government's immediate reaction came from Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, who urged to wait for the reasoning of the court before commenting on the outcome of the case.



The court's decision is expected to have major implications on the closure case against the Justice and Development Party (AKP), where the constitutional changes on the headscarf, ruled to be violating the secular values of the Republic by the court, were cited as an evidence that the party has become a 'focal point for anti-secular activities.'



AKP deputies, the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) had backed the constitutional changes by 411 for, 103 against on Feb 9. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Democratic Left Party (DSP) took the amendments to the court, which accepted to look into their constitutionality on March 6, the Turkish Daily News reports.