Parental Religious Rights vs. Compulsory Religious Education in Turkey

Abstract

Despite parents having primary responsibility, it remains the State's duty to ensure its citizens' education. The orientation of the State's education can be secular can religious; however, the State – having the discretion on curriculum – should comply with human rights principles by promoting pluralism and refraining from indoctrination. In this respect, discussions around religious education have been, and are, highly controversial. This has especially been the case for countries such as Turkey, which have pronounced religious minority groups in their territories. In this regard, the Alevis of Turkey, as the largest religious minority in the country, have been the main actors of a long lasting legal struggle to strive for respect for their freedom of religion as well as parental religious convictions. This article aims to answer to what extent Alevis in Turkey can assert their parental right to religious education through invoking international human rights law, particularly under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Values Education or Religious Education? An Alternative View of Religious Education in the Secular Age, the Case of Turkey

“…In other words, it should not only deal with various orientations within the same religion but also address different religions and their worldviews and ethical understandings [28] (pp. [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40].…”

“…The curriculum addresses both multiculturalism and national issues [27]. The existing curriculum expresses the secular nature of the state and the inclination of the curriculum's authors [35].…”

“…According to Kant, we can reach real moral knowledge with a pure practical mind [49] (pp. [34][35][36][37]. According to Moore, people can discover good or bad morality through intuition [48] (p. 54); and according to Rousseau, emotions apart from selfishness are the source of morality [50] (p. 152).…”

Preparing for the world of diverse worldviews: parental and school stakeholder views on integrative worldview education in a Finnish context

“…According to the Human Rights Council, parents and guardians have the right to ensure that the child gains moral and religious education in conformity with their convictions. However, it should also be noted that the parents' right should also be balanced with the states' duty to provide comprehensive education to the child (Akbulut & Usal 2009;Lester 2004).…”

Alevi “Openings” and Politicization of the “Alevi Issue” During the AKP Rule

“…They argued that the forcible teaching of a religion-based course was against the official definition of secularism, that is, the separation of state and religion. 46 For instance, on January 2, 2004, Hasan Zengin and his daughter Eylem Zengin made an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Republic of Turkey. They claimed that the compulsory course infringed their rights as guaranteed by the Article 2 of Protocol 1 and Article 9 of the Convention.…”