Recent Developments on the Question of Religion Courses: An Analysis of a Turkish Constitutional Courts’s Decision in 2022

Abstract

In this study, the decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court in 2022 regarding the compulsory religion classes, Hüseyin El and Nazlı Şirin El, was analyzed. The decision was criticized on the following eight points: (1) Although the correct decision was quite apparent, the Constitutional Court found a violation by only one vote. It created an unsafe situation. (2) The Constitutional Court established the violation too late. It weakened the objective effect of the decision. (3) The Constitutional Court referred to crucial international materials but did not consider their merits. (4) The Constitutional Court based its decision on the violation with reference to the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights but it missed the chance to make a much deeper analysis. (5) The Constitutional Court ignored the original and alternative theses in Turkish literature. (6) The Constitutional Court made controversial inferences regarding the principle of laicism, especially in the context of the doctrine of positive obligations. (7) The Ministry of Justice misrepresented the European Court of Human Rights judgments. (8) The application was not prepared professionally and powerfully enough.