Source: http://echr.ketse.com/doc/1448.04-en-20071009/view/
Timestamp: 2018-03-21 16:52:55
Document Index: 685712453

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application no. 1448', 'art.\n2', '§ 54', '§ 89', '§ 31', 'in fine']

HASAN AND EYLEM ZENGIN v. TURKEY About Project
CASE OF HASAN AND EYLEM ZENGİN v. TURKEY
(Application no. 1448/04)
Mr H. Ünler,
Ms Z.G. Acar,
Ms E. Esin,
Mr İ. Aycan,
Mr S. Duman, Advisers;
– for the applicants
Mr K. Genç, Counsel,
Mr A.Ş. Yakişan,
Ms İ. Melikoff
Mr T. Öker, Advisers,
Mr H. Zengin, First applicant.
The Court heard addresses by Mr Genç and Mr Özmen.
6. Hasan Zengin, who was born in 1960, and his daughter Eylem Zengin, who was born in 1988, live in Istanbul.
At the time Mr Zengin lodged the application on his own and his daughter's behalf, she was attending the seventh grade of the state school in Avcılar, Istanbul.
7. Hasan Zengin stated that his family were adherents of Alevism.
9. According to the applicant, Alevism is a belief or philosophy influenced by other cultures, religions and philosophies. It represents one of the most widespread faiths in Turkey after the Hanafite2 branch of Islam. It advocates close contact with nature, tolerance, modesty and love for one's neighbour, within the Islamic faith. Alevis reject the sharia (code of laws in orthodox Islam) and the sunna (forms of behaviour and formal rules of orthodox Islam) and defend freedom of religion, human rights, women's rights, humanism, democracy, rationalism, modernism, universalism, tolerance and secularism. Alevis do not pray by the Sunni rite (in particular, they do not comply with the obligation to pray five times daily) but express their devotion through religious songs and dances (semah); they do not attend mosques, but meet regularly in cemevi (meeting and worship rooms) for ritual ceremonies. Equally, Alevis do not consider the pilgrimage to Mecca as a religious obligation. They believe that Allah is present in each person. According to Alevism, Allah created Adam in his image and all his manifestations in this world are in human form. Allah is neither in the sky nor in paradise, but in the centre of the human heart.
2. Emphasise that differences in religious understanding and practice are of value.
In the 4th grade textbook, instruction moved from the concept of religion to examine the relationship between morality and religion, the Creator and the creature, the family and religion, and knowledge of the life of the prophet Mohamed.
This textbook begins by dealing with man's place in the universe. It subsequently covers topics such as human nature and religion, the role of religion in human life and the various forms of belief, namely monotheism, polytheism, Gnosticism, agnosticism and atheism. Explanations are also provided for various concepts, such as prayer and the link between prayer and cleanliness; this chapter illustrates the rituals surrounding the partial and total ablutions in Islam (gusul and abdest). In addition, certain essential elements, such as the life of Mohammed, the Koran and fundamental concepts (interpretation, the suras, etc.), are described with the aim of providing information on Islam. The rest of the textbook deals primarily with the concepts of “values and family”, “the homeland, flag, freedom, independence, human rights, secularism, the secular State, Ataturk and secularism, etc”. Finally, it deals with the subject of “the Turks and Islam” in the context of Turkish history; this chapter examines the Turks' former beliefs, such as the concept of “God-heaven”, Manichaeism, Buddhism, the Christian religion and Judaism. Individuals who influenced the Turks' understanding of Islam are also discussed, in particular Ebu Hanife (born 699, died 767, founder of the Hanafite school) and Imam Şafii (born 767, died 820, founder of the Shafite School), as well as Hoca Ahmet Yesevi and Haci Bektas Veli (see paragraph 8 above).
“The syllabus covers all religions and is chiefly designed to give pupils an idea of all existing religions. However, several sources have described these courses as instruction in the principles of the Muslim faith rather than a course covering several religious cultures. ECRI notes that only Muslim pupils are required to follow these courses, while pupils belonging to minority religious groups can be exempted. ECRI considers the situation unclear: if this is indeed a course on the different religious cultures, there is no reason to make it compulsory for Muslim children alone. Conversely, if the course is essentially designed to teach the Muslim religion, it is a course on a specific religion and should not be compulsory, in order to preserve children's and their parents' religious freedom.”
41. The Government emphasised that the syllabus, drawn up by the Ministry of Education and not by the religious authorities, complied with the principle of secularism, in accordance with Article 24 of the Constitution and section 12 of the State Education Act (Law no. 1739), and certainly did not correspond to denominational instruction. In this connection, they challenged the applicants' allegation that instruction in religious matters was based on the Sunni understanding of Islam. In the classes on religious culture and ethics, no specific instruction was provided on the doctrine and rituals of a particular religion; general information was given about various religions. In addition, the compulsory nature of the class implied only that the children had to attend the lessons.
50. It is in the discharge of a natural duty towards their children – parents being primarily responsible for the “education and teaching” of their children – that parents may require the State to respect their religious and philosophical convictions. Their right thus corresponds to a responsibility closely linked to the enjoyment and the exercise of the right to education (ibid).
53. In order to examine the disputed legislation under Article 2 of the Protocol, interpreted as above, one must, while avoiding any evaluation of the legislation's expediency, have regard to the material situation that it sought and still seeks to meet. Although, in the past, the Convention organs have not found education providing information on religions to be contrary to the Convention, they have carefully scrutinised whether pupils were obliged to take part in a form of religious worship or were exposed to any form of religious indoctrination. In the same context, the arrangements for exemption are also a factor to be taken into account (see Anna-Nina Angeleni v. Sweden, no. 10491/83, Commission decision of 3 December 1986, Decisions and Reports (DR) 51, p. 41; Zénon Bernard v. Luxembourg, no. 17187/90, Commission decision of 8 September 1993, DR 75, p. 57; C.J., J.J. and E.J. v. Poland, no. 23380/94, Commission decision of 16 January 1996, DR 84, p. 46). Certainly, abuses can occur as to the manner in which the provisions in force are applied by a given school or teacher and the competent authorities have a duty to take the utmost care to see to it that parents' religious and philosophical convictions are not disregarded at this level by carelessness, lack of judgment or misplaced proselytism (see Kjeldsen, Busk Madsen and Pedersen, cited above, § 54).
58. According to the syllabus for “religious culture and ethics” classes, the subject is to be taught in compliance with respect for the principles of secularism and freedom of thought, religion and conscience, and is intended to “foster a culture of peace and a context of tolerance”. It also aims to transmit knowledge concerning all of the major religions. One of the objectives of the syllabus is educate people “who are informed about the historical development of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, their main features and the content of their doctrine, and to be able to assess, using objective criteria, the position of Islam in relation to Judaism and Christianity” (see paragraph 21 above).
63. Thus, the syllabus for teaching in primary schools and the first cycle of secondary school, and all of the textbooks drawn up in accordance with the Ministry of Education's decision no. 373 of 19 September 2000, give greater priority to knowledge of Islam than they do to that of other religions and philosophies. In the Court's view, this itself cannot be viewed as a departure from the principles of pluralism and objectivity which would amount to indoctrination (see Folgerø and Others, cited above, § 89), having regard to the fact that, notwithstanding the State's secular nature, Islam is the majority religion practiced in Turkey.
68. Admittedly, parents may always enlighten and advise their children, exercise with regard to their children natural parental functions as educators, or guide their children on a path in line with the parents' own religious or philosophical convictions (see Valsamis, cited above, § 31 in fine). Nonetheless, where the Contracting States include the study of religion in the subjects on school curricula, and irrespective of the arrangements for exemption, pupils' parents may legitimately expect that the subject will be taught in such a way as to meet the criteria of objectivity and pluralism, and with respect for their religious or philosophical convictions.
72. The Court notes that, under Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution, “religious culture and ethics” is one of the compulsory subjects. However, it appears that a possibility for exemption was introduced by the Supreme Council for Education's decision of 9 July 1990 (see paragraph 18 above). According to that decision, only children “of Turkish nationality who belong to the Christian or Jewish religion” have the option of exemption, “provided they affirm their adherence to those religions”.
1. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1;
1. The majority of Turkey’s population follows the Hanafite theological school’s moderate interpretation of Islam.
2. Hanafism is one of the four theological schools of Sunni Islam.
HASAN AND EYLEM ZENGİN v. TURKEY JUDGMENT