NEW DRAFT TURKISH CONSTITUTION FORESEES EASING RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC IDENTITY

NEW DRAFT TURKISH CONSTITUTION FORESEES EASING RESTRICTIONS ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC IDENTITY - Eurasia Daily Monitor

A draft of the planned new Turkish constitution has been leaked to the media, and it suggests that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is planning to ease restrictions on the expression of religious and non-Turkish ethnic identities while reducing the political influence of the Turkish military.


The draft proposes easing restrictions on the use of the Kurdish
language. Although private Kurdish language courses are now permitted,
it still cannot be used in Turkish schools, either as a medium of
instruction or as a “foreign” language. Article 3 of the current
constitution on the basic characteristics of the Turkish Republic
states “Its language is Turkish.” However, Article 3 of the new draft
amends the clause to read, “Its official language is Turkish.” Article
45 explicitly allows education in other languages provided that new
laws are promulgated to that effect.


Under the current constitution, religious instruction is compulsory
throughout the Turkish school system. The new draft makes religious
lessons optional. However, it also contains a much stronger commitment
to freedom of conscience and belief -- something hard-line secularists
believe will allow radical Islamists to shift the focus of religious
education away from the state-monitored school system by making it
easier to open private Koran courses.



Most contentiously, a proposed “alternative” to the main draft of
Article 45 of the new constitution includes a commitment to ensuring
that the manner in which people are dressed does not prevent them from
receiving a higher education. In practice, this would result in lifting
the current ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in Turkish
universities (Radikal, September 13).

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