Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said Saturday that it will appeal to the Constitutional Court to annul the constitutional amendments that would lift a headscarf ban in universities.
"Our preparations are under way. We will argue that the irrevocable article, the article 2, of the Constitution is wanted to be changed," Deputy Chairman of CHP Parliamentary Group Kemal Kilicdaroglu was quoted by the semi-official Anatolia news agency as saying.
"We are experiencing a constitutional amendment brought by imposition, not by social consensus," said Kilicdaroglu, adding that "Our society will be drifted to an atmosphere of tension after this amendment."
Earlier in the day, Turkish parliament approved the constitutional amendments aiming to lift a ban on female students wearing Islamic headscarves at universities.
Lawmakers voted 411-103 in a final vote to give go-ahead to the two constitutional amendments which add paragraphs saying that "noone can be deprived of his/her right to higher education for reasons not openly mentioned by laws."
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the conservative Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) that supports the changes have the required two-thirds majority in the parliament, making the CHP unable to hold off the measure.
The headscarf reform drew fierce opposition from the secular establishment in the predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey which has long forbad Islamic headscarves at universities.
Also in the day, 76 nongovernmental organizations organized a demonstration at Sihhiye Square in the capital of Ankara to protest the constitutional amendment and called for the government's resignation, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
People from several provinces of Turkey especially from Istanbul and Izmir attended the rally, according to the report.
The demonstrators chanted slogans saying "Turkey is secular and will remain secular forever," waving flags.
Source: Xinhua
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