| Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed a controversial education reform bill on the grounds that it would promote religious schools and did not comply with the secular principles of the Muslim nation. The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has its roots in a banned Islamist movement, backed the law in parliament earlier this month despite a public outcry and objections from the influential army. The bill was designed to make it easier for graduates of religious vocational schools to obtain university degrees other than in divinity studies, thus opening the way for them to hold public office. Sezer, who rejected four key articles of the legislation, said "the real aim" of the bill was to encourage youths to attend religious schools, which are tasked by law to train imams and other Islamic clergy. "It is a fact, however, that the number of students attending such schools is in excess even today," the president said in a 19-page statement explaining his rejection. "Allowing graduates of religious schools to benefit from the same university education rights as graduates of general high schools does not comply with... the principles of secularism," Sezer said. "Legislation which... does not comply with the state's objectives and raison d'etre and which is passed only thanks to parliamentary majority has an adverse impact on the conscience of the society." |