ANKARA - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Sunday that according to the well-established decisions of the Constitutional Court, it is not possible to prepare a legal arrangement which will permit wearing head scarf in public places as it will be against the Constitution.
President Sezer received a teachers delegation headed by National Education Minister Erkan Mumcu upon Nov 24. Teachers' Day.
President Sezer said in the meeting that the importance of teachers is same in every country.
''Teachers are the most important guides in process of education,'' said Sezer.
Sezer said that education plays a basic role in strengthening the status of countries in the modern world, adding that ''we should not forget that societies which only undertake researches, which question and which contribute to the production of knowledge can take their places among the powerful countries of the information age.''
President Sezer said that necessary arrangements should be undertaken for teachers to prepare the nation to the age of information, and therefore the economic and social problems of teachers should be solved.
Sezer said that secularism principle came first among several basic principles of the Republic which were taken under guarantee with the first articles of the Constitution.
President Sezer stressed that it was not possible to put the social, economic, political and legal basis of the state on the religious rules due to secularism principle and stated that it was not useful to bring the issue of head scarf onto agenda as a problem again.
Sezer said that the decisions of the Constitutional Court sorted out the question of whether or not wearing head scarf could be accepted in public places. Head scarf can be worn in private life, Sezer said.
''The Court cancelled the legal arrangement which permitted wearing head scarves in universities by telling that it is against the Constitution. According to the decisions of the Court, it is not possible to prepare a legal arrangement which will permit wearing head scarf in public places as it will be against the Constitution. Ignoring the legal rules that bring an order to the public area and trying to make religious rules valid in practice contradict with the principle of state of law. I would like to stress once again that it is not possible to give up the basic principles of the Republic,'' Sezer said.
President Sezer said that the teachers played significant role in the success of Turkish Republic and added, ''the country can look at the future safely thanks to the efforts of teachers. I would like to congratulate all teachers' November 24 Teachers' Day.''