Discrimination

Discrimination in Turkey’s Education System 17
a legitimate aim, and if it is necessary in a democratic
society.
The obligation to respect the freedom of religion,
belief and conscience of students and their parents
in the field of education is stipulated by many international
agreements. Above all, these regulations
state that parents should be guaranteed the right to
choose the form of education their children will receive.
26 More importantly, states are responsible for
ensuring that education is in conformity with parents’
religious and philosophical convictions. 27 According
to the CRC, the education system must respect
the cultural identity, language and values of
the child and their parents. 28 The general comments
adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC)
and the CESCR also support these principles. 29 The
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI) also states that religious education in
schools should respect cultural pluralism. 30
According to the HRC, states are not obliged to
provide religious education in schools, however,
when they do provide education on one religion
they must give the same right to members of all
faiths, according to the principle of equality. 31 The
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) recommends that states provide education
on religions with the aim of promoting tolerance
among different communities. 32
According to the HRC, failure to provide full exemption
from a compulsory religious lesson that
is not acceptable to the religious and philosophical
convictions of parents is a violation of the right
to freedom of religion and conscience. 33 The OSCE
points out the necessity of establishing a non-discriminatory
exemption mechanism from compulsory
religious courses that do not have an objective
syllabus. 34 Forcing students who choose not to participate
in compulsory religion lessons to declare
their religion is, according to the HRC, a rights violation.
35 The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
has also made various judgments on the issue
of religion lessons. In the case of Hasan and Eylem
Zengin v. Turkey, the court ruled that the Religious
Culture and Morals lesson, which is compulsory in
Turkey’s education system, was a violation of the
right to education. 36 In its judgment, the Court underlined
that parents have the right to request that
the state respect their religious and philosophical
convictions. 37
The most comprehensive guidelines on teaching
religions in schools are laid out in the Toledo Guiding
Principles on Teaching about Religions and Beliefs
in Public Schools, a document published by
the OSCE. According to the Toledo Guiding Principles,
advisory bodies should be established to ensure
the participation of various stakeholders in the
preparation of the curriculum and in the training of
teachers for religious education, 38 and all interested
parties should be given sufficient opportunities
26 UDHR, article 26/3.
27 First Additional Protocol to the ECHR, article 2;
ICCPR, article 18/3; ICESCR, article 13/3; UNESCO
Convention, article 5/1(b).
28 CRC, article 29/1(c).
29 HRC General Comment No. 22; CESCR General
Comment No. 13.
30 ECRI General Policy Recommendation No. 5 on
Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against
Muslims, CRI, 21, 27 April 2000).
31 Waldman v. Canada, Communication No:
694/1996, 5 November 1999, UN Doc. CCPR/
C/67/D/694/1996, paragraph 10.6.
32 Recommendation 1396 (1999) on Religion and
Democracy, 27 January 1999. For the criteria for
this lesson see also Recommendation 1720 (2005)
adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 4
October 2005, paragraph 14.1-14.4.
33 Leirvag v. Norway, Communication No.
1155/2003, 23 November 2004, UN Doc. CCPR/
C/82/D/1155/2003, paragraphs 14.6 and 15.
34 Toledo Guiding Principles on Teaching about
Religions and Beliefs in Public Schools, prepared
by the ODIHR Advisory Council of Experts on
Freedom of Religion or Belief, OSCE, 2007, guiding
principle 5.
35 Concluding observations of the Human Rights
Committee: Greece, 25 April 2005, UN Doc. CCPR/
CO/83/GRC, paragraph 14/b.
36 Hasan and Eylem Zengin v Turkey, ECHR,
Application No.: 1448/04, Judgment Date: 9
October 2007, para. 48.
37 Further information on judgments made by the
ECtHR on the compulsory religious culture and
morals lessons can be found in the section of this
report entitled Compulsory Religious Culture and
Morals Course.
38 Guiding principle 4.