CHP Mulls challenge to new foundations law before top court

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is ready to challenge the just-passed Foundations Law before the Constitutional Court. At a press conference yesterday, CHP deputy leader Onur Oymen said that his party is considering taking the law to the top court. �The law was clearly imposed by the European Union," he claimed. Saying that the issue of religious minorities was adequately covered by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Oymen argued, �Even a minor change to it would cause serious problems with the fundamental principles of the state." The law, passed 242-72 in Parliament this week, would enable properties confiscated by the state to be returned to non-Muslim minorities, a prerequisite for Turkey's EU membership. In addition, it would also allow Muslim foundations to receive financial aid from foreign countries. The CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) strongly criticized the government for passing the bill, which they see as a threat to Turkey's national interests.