Court annuls Turkish headscarf bill, blow to government

By Hidir Goktas

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's ruling AK party appeared to move a step closer to being shut down on Thursday when the Constitutional Court overturned a reform that would have allowed women to wear Islamic headscarves in universities.

The headscarf amendment plays a central role in a separate, crucial case that seeks to outlaw the AK Party for anti-secular activities, and ban 71 members, including the prime minister and president, from belonging to a political party for five years.

"This guarantees the closure of the party. I don't think we can talk of any calm before full chaos," said Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist at Istanbul's Bahcesehir University.

The court said in a statement it upheld, by 9 votes to 2, an appeal from the main opposition CHP party, seeking to block a legal amendment allowing students to wear the garment on campus.

More conservative secularists saw the amendment as a violation of strict separation between Mosque and state, and evidence the AK Party has a secret agenda to introduce a system of Islamic law. AK denies such ambitions and has introduced many social reforms aimed at European Union membership.

"With this decision the Constitutional Court has exceeded its authority. I see this decision as contrary to the constitution," said AK Party deputy group chairman Bekir Bozdag.

The AK Party has roots in political Islam and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan served a prison sentence for Islamist activity in the 1990s. But it was formed, six years ago, as a broad coalition of religious conservatives, nationalists, market liberals and centre-right activists.

The Turkish lira fell 1 percent against the dollar on the news, with markets fearing prolonged political uncertainty in the EU-applicant country and a slow-down of economic and political reforms.

ANTI-SECULAR MOVE

The Constitutional Court, the highest judicial body, said lifting the headscarf ban was contrary to three articles in the constitution, including article two that specifies that Turkey is a secular republic. Turkey is also 99 percent Muslim.

The AK Party says the right to wear the headscarf at university is a personal and religious freedom. Secularists see it as a symbol of political Islam.

"If Turkey is a secular, democratic state, we must all respect the (court's) decisions. The ruling states the obvious," military chief General Yasar Buyukanit told reporters.

A powerful elite of military, judicial and academic officials regard themselves as the custodians of secularism and the army, with public support, edged a party from power as recently as 1997 on accusations of Islamist activity.

In AK, however, the secularist elite faces a party with a large parliamentary majority and a highly popular leader.

Senior AK Party members told Reuters recently the party has started to believe it would be closed down and Erdogan banned from belonging to a political party for five years.