Politicians react to release of headscarf ruling

Commenting on the Constitutional Court's just-released full decision on upholding the headscarf ban at universities, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday said that the ruling had rendered Parliament powerless. Stressing that Parliament should discuss whether the court had usurped Parliament's authority with the June decision, he said, "The legislature has been put into a position where it cannot independently make constitutional changes." Sahin also said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has no plans to try to change the Constitution's unalterable articles on the basic principles of the republic, adding, "To the contrary, we care about how we can strengthen the fundamental principles of the republic, and how we can develop the people's genuine commitment to the regime." Bekir Bozdag, the head of the AKP parliamentary group said, "With this decision, Parliament's power to amend the Constitution and draft a new cone will be subject to the approval of the Constitutional Court. The ruling interferes with the legislature." Mehmet Sandir, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), whose party supported lifting the ban, said that the full decision had wounded the nation's conscience. "We respect the decision and are against the headscarf being used as a political instrument," he added. "But saying that the headscarf is a threat to the fundamental values of our republic is an exaggeration." Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) parliamentary group chairman Hakkı Süha Okay said, "In a democratic country, the legislature doesn't have the right to do anything it wants. It can't do whatever it wants without boundaries." He added that the ruling had affirmed the CHP's initial objections to the amendment lifting the ban.