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Turkey s constitutional court ruled that the AKP and MHP supported laws to abolish the headscarf ban in universities is unconstitutional. The court says that Islamic head scarves violate the principles of secularism (as established in the country s constitution).

The ruling is breaking news, because this is a very significant development. It has already caused a firestorm in Turkey, and it will continue to do so for weeks, possibly months. On top of that it has to be noted that this case is related to the closure case against PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan s AK Parti. This verdict makes it more likely that the court will also decide to close down the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

It will also cause the political debate in Turkey, which was overly aggressive and passionate for months already, to become even more intense.

This case is part of the organized resistance by Turkey s secularist opposition to the reformations pushed through by the AKP and, to a degree, by the MHP, aimed at turning Turkey into a “Islamic” state.

This is for the first time in many years that the AKP has been stopped. When the opposition brought the issue to court, Erdogan (especially) stepped up his rhetorical and other attacks against them. One can expect him to become even more aggressive and reckless now.

One also wonders how conservative supporters of the AKP will respond to the verdict. Tensions between the two groups - secularists and Islamists - will rise. If, however, the conservative Muslims become too aggressive, it s possible that the army will act. As such, I don t expect the Islamists and their supporters to throw the country into complete chaos.

The decision was an easy one; 9 of the 11 members of the court agreed that the constitutional amendments meant to abolish the ban were unconstitutional and therefore illegal.

UPDATE

The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet has collected reactions from some politicians:

JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY (AKP)
- Bekir Bozdag, deputy leader of the parliamentary group
“The Constitutional Court violated the constitution with this ruling. This decision opens the way of controlling every constitutional amendment that the parliament would want to make,” Bekir Bozdag said in a televised statement.”
- Husrev Kutlu, Adiyaman MP
“The decision reveals the existence of judiciary oligarchy in Turkey”

REPUBLICAN PEOPLE S PARTY (CHP)
- Kemal Anadol, deputy leader of the parliamentary group
“We respect the Constitutional Court s decision based on the opposition we submitted 99 days ago, but this is should not be read that we are in any way elated by the decision,” said CHP s Group Deputy Chairman Kemal Anadol.
- Anadol said that they were expecting such a decision to be handed down, adding the decision was in line with the basic philosophy of the Turkish Republic and revealed that both secularism and democracy are integral to each other.

 NATIONALIST MOVEMENT PARTY (MHP)
- Faruk Bal, deputy chairman
“The party respects the court s ruling, but does not agree with its decision.”

 DEMOCRATIC LEFT PARTY (DSP) (this is the party I find most sympathetic)
- Zeki Sezer, party chairman
“Turkey was involved in an unnecessary polarization with the discussions on headscarf ban, and I hope common sense will prevail from now on.”

Source:
http://poligazette.com/2008/06/05/breaking-turkish-constitutional-court-upholds-headscarf-ban

Source:
http://poligazette.com/2008/06/05/breaking-turkish-constitutional-court-upholds-headscarf-ban/

Photo: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/05/turkey.scarves/?iref=mpstoryview

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