CHP applies to Constitutional Court to annul law on private cram schools

ANKARA

CHP Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Akif Hamzaçebi speaks during a press conference on April 18. AA Photo

Arguing that it violates the constitutional freedom to establish private enterprises, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul a law outlining the closure of thousands of private cram schools.

Many of the cram schools are run by followers of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has been locked in a bitter feud with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.       

CHP Deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Akif Hamzaçebi told reporters on April 18 that the party had filed for a partial annulment, claiming that it violated the article of the Constitution on freedom of enterprise and choice.

Hamzaçebi said the responsibility of the state was not to close these schools but to inspect them for proper service. “Repressive mindsets” could not prevent enterprises such as cram schools, he added.

“What should be done is not closing down private cram schools, but adopting necessary educational reforms that will eliminate the need for such preparation courses in the Turkish education system,” he stated.