Constitutional Court Revokes The Headscarf Amendment

The Constitutional Court annulled the constitutional amendments that would allow women to wear the Muslim headscarf at Turkish universities. According to the written statement of the court, the constitutional changes were in conflict with Articles 2, 4, and 148 of the Constitution.

According to the NTVMSNCB’s report, the written statement said:

“Articles 1 and 2 of the law to Make Changes In Some Articles Of The Constitution of the Turkish Republic, registered under the number 5735 on February 9, 2008, was annulled according to articles 2, 4, 148 of the Constitution. It is no more in effect.”

The decision was taken with a vote of nine to two.

Baykal: I wish it had not come to this point

Deniz Baykal, the head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which had appealed the amendments, said that the decision was very important legally. “The decision reflects the mentality that amendments for the unchangeable articles of the Constitution can be assessed by the Constitutional Court.

“I wish it had not come to this point. We had explained this when the amendment process had started. Tension and polarity had developed. We reached this point following Prime Minister’s ‘so what, if the headscarf is a political symbol mentality.’ It should not have come to this point. After this act, the idea that a political power can force the Constitution can no more be a subject of discussion.”

Zeki Sezer, the head of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) said that “The decision of the Constitutional Court justifies our attempt to move against the amendments. Turkey has been polarized and put in stress for no reason. The government and those who hope to benefit from this will pay for causing this polarization.”

The State Minister Cemil Çiçek said they would not comment until the legal ground of the decision was published.

Both the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Democratic Left Party (DSP) had gone to the Constitutional Court for the annulment of the 1st and 2nd articles of the Law to Make Some Changes to the Constitution of the Turkish Republic. (NZ/TB)