TURKEY: How far will new Constitution protect freedom of religion or belief?
ICC Note:
?With the two main parties involved in drafting a new constitution for Turkey in disagreement, it is unclear how far the constitution will go to protect freedom of religion or belief.? While the reigning party has agreed that everyone deserves the right to change their beliefs (a big step towards greater freedom), the same party rejected the right to conscientious objection. ?Failure to include the right to conscientious objection to military service weakens the overall protection of freedom of thought, conscience or belief.? It seems that in general greater freedoms will be granted, but will it be enough?
?By Mine Yildirim
08/22/2012 Turkey (Forum 18)- Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission (AUK) has begun the drafting a new Constitution. But the political parties represented on the AUK have not reached a consensus on freedom of religion or belief, Forum 18 News Service notes. What are the implications of the new Constitution's possible omission of parts of Turkey's international religious freedom commitments, affecting for example religious education, conscientious objection, and the neutrality of the state? The scope of constitutional guarantees of religious freedom in Turkey should not be limited by the boundaries of the AKP government. Constitutional provisions must reflect the provisions on religious freedom in Turkey's international human rights commitments.
Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission (AUK), in drafting a new Constitution, has been considering the provision protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief. However, the political parties represented on the AUK have not reached a consensus on this. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has presented its own proposal, rejecting proposals from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). If the AKP's proposal is the basis for this part of the new Constitution, partial progress in protecting freedom of thought, conscience or religion will be seen. But perhaps not as much progress as if the CHP's proposal had been accepted as the start. These protected the right to conscientious objection, and defined secularism as meaning that the state will observe equal distance towards all religions.
So will the new Constitution ? when it is eventually adopted - advance the protection of freedom of religion or belief in Turkey? What would be the implications of the omission of some religious freedom commitments, affecting for example religious education, conscientious objection, and the role of the Diyanet?
Politicians and society had hoped that the AUK would make unanimous decisions in drafting the new Constitution. On issues where consensus has not been reached, the proposals of parties are included so that the texts will be considered by the - AKP-dominated - General Assembly of the Parliament. The final draft text ready to be passed to the General Assembly has however not been completed. It was hoped that Turkey would have a new Constitution by the end of 2012 but this now seems unlikely.
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Source: http://www.persecution.org/2012/08/22/will-turkeys-new-constitution-protect-freedom-of-religion/
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