Turkish Court Backs Parents' Objection to School Religion Classes

Constitutional Court rules that school's refusals to exempt a pupil from religion classes violated the rights of the pupil and her parents.

Turkish Constitutional Court Building. Photo: Turhish Constitutional Court

Turkey’s top court ruled on Wednesday that rights of a student and her parents who wanted her to be exempted from compulsory religious classes were violated.

“Parents’ rights to requesting respect for their religious and philosophical beliefs, which were secured by Turkish constitution’s article 24, were violated,” the Constitutional Court wrote in its decision.

The court ruling was made by a slight majority of eight votes while seven Constitutional Court members voted against. The court also ruled that 20,000 Turkish lira [1,094 euro] will be paid to the family as compensation.

Despite several rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, religious classes in all public and private schools are compulsory for pupils in primary and secondary schools with the exception of recognised minority schools run by Armenian, Jewish and Greek communities.

In 2009, Huseyin El applied to Eskisehir Havacılar Primary School, demanding her daughter, Nazli Sirin El be exempted from religion classes.

In accordance with the advice of the General Directorate of Primary Education of the Ministry of National Education, the school principal rejected the request.

The Turkish constitution’s article 24 regulates religious education in the country.