Top court annuls YOK Head's circular on headscarves

The Council of State yesterday annulled a circular by Board of Higher Education (YOK) head Yusuf Ziya Ozcan instructing university rectors to comply with constitutional changes ending the headscarf ban at universities. The top administrative court ruled unanimously that Ozcan lacked the authority to release the circular. Parliament voted early last month to lift the university headscarf ban by changing two articles of the Constitution. But several university rectors have refused to comply, claiming that the changes violate the Constitution's principle of secularism, and they petitioned the top court to overturn the circular.