YÖK Chair to Seek Court Order to Enforce Amendments

Photo: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE: Şule Gökçek puts a wig over her türban and enters university after first being denied entry into the gates of Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun. A friend of mine showed me this terrific photo from the front page of Radikal, a Doğan paper with strong connections to the secular left. I really wish I read Turkish because I am sure there is so much more I could gleen. Photographer: İSMAİL TEMİZ / DHA

YÖK Chairman Yusuf Ziya Özcan announced yesterday that he will seek a court order to insist that university rectors who continue to prevent türban-wearing students from entering university campuses are doing so in violation of the Constitution.

Two students at Kocaeli Univeristy became the first to launch a criminal complaint. The complaint was filed in a Kocaeli Court against Kocaeli University rector Sezer Komşuoğlu . A section of the complaint is quoted in Today's Zaman:

"The Constitution says every individual is equal before the law regardless of his language, race, gender, political views or religion. State bodies and administrative units have to deal fairly with everyone in accordance with this principle. Rector Komşuoğlu is explicitly violating the Constitution by turning a blind eye to the constitutional package lifting the headscarf ban."

Meanwhile today CHP and DSP filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to annul the amendments.