Rejecting name change request of transgender abuse of rights: Supreme Court

ANKARA

Turkey’s Supreme Court has reversed a decision of a local court that rejected a transgender person’s name change request for not having a sex-change operation, calling it a “violation of rights.”

A man, identified by initials H.K., wanted to change his name to “D,” as per the lawsuit

However, a local court in the capital Ankara rejected the demand, noting that the transgender person did not undergo a gender reassignment surgery. The transgender person took the case to the Supreme Court later.

The highest court found the decision an “abuse of rights” and asked for a retrial.

“The local court bases its decision on a civil code article. But that article may not be a reason to deny a request for changing the name,” judges of the highest court ruled in.

“Apart from the right to privacy, the principle of prohibition of discrimination has been violated as the applicant is a transgender person,” a judge noted in the decision.