The Issue of Hijab in Republic of Turkey through the Assessment of Leyla Şahin's Court Case in the European Court of Human Rights

During recent years, the issue of prohibiting wearing hijab in Turkish universities has sparked various debates over the right to practice freedom of religion and freedom of expression. In this aspect, the basis of such discussions was scrutinized in the Turkey in order to identify and determine the source of regulations regarding hijab and its periphery debates as much as possible. The vast majority of the Turkish society is Muslim. Thus, the significant effect of banning hijab for Turkish women was considered and further followed by the story of Leyla. Leyla Şahin Usta, who is now member of the Turkish parliament and wears hijab, emigrated from Turkey in 1998 with the purpose of continuing her studies after the implementation of the hijab ban in Turkish universities. Nonetheless, reference to her case of persistent legal struggles against the imposed regulations banning Islamic hijab in Turkish universities has led to a source for understanding the legal aspects of this major issue. In this regard, attempts were made in order to identify the judicial procedure and the coordinates of the dispute over the ban on Islamic hijab in Turkish universities that have been based on the credibility of the data in the case file which have been published under the title of "Leyla Şahin vs. Turkey". A detailed scrutiny of the Court's ruling further strengthened the viewpoint that without fully considering the context of the human rights claims, an accurate and precise assessment of the legitimacy of these claims will not be attainable.