Turkey Appeals ECHR Verdict on Compulsory Religion Classes

On its last day of application, Turkey appealed to the European Court of Human Right (ECHR) verdict on compulsory religion classes including Alevi people. 

According to Voice of America, Turkey requested the case to be heard by the Grand Chamber, a higher board of ECHR. 

Now, 5 judges from the Grand Chamber will decide on the appeal application. The court may either admit or decline the application without any further explanation.

Ruling

On 2 February 2011, applicants Mansur Yalçın, Namık Sofuoğlu, Serap Topçu, Ali Yüce, Ali Kaplan, Eylem Onat Karataş, Hüseyin Kaya, Sevinç Ilgın, İsmail Ilgın, Cafer Aktan, Hakkı Saygı, Kemal Kuzucu, Yüksel Polat and Hasan Kılıç applied to ECHR, saying that Turkey violated their right to education according to Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education). 

On September 16, issuing a ruling on the complaint of 14 applicants, the European Court of Human Rights warned Turkey on the religious freedoms, saying that Turkey had to remedy the situation without delay, in particular by introducing a system whereby pupils could be exempted from religion and ethics classes without their parents having to disclose their own religious or philosophical convictions”.

The ruling also reminded that Turkey’s minorities with Christian and Jewish background were exempted from compulsory religion classes, underlining the possible clash values between Alevi families and public schools. (YY/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.