ANKARA - Turkey's parliamentary speaker has proposed a new constitution and the re-establishment of an upper house of parliament to reduce the power of the country's top court.
Koksal Toptan's suggestions come after the Constitutional Court on Thursday rebuffed an attempt by the Islamic-oriented government to lift a ban on Muslim head scarves in universities.
Toptan's suggestions appear to be aimed at rearranging the sharing of power between the judiciary and the Parliament and immediately drew the ire of the main secular opposition party.
Toptan accuses the Constitutional Court of "overstepping its power and seizing the power of the Parliament," in remarks on Saturday. The government leveled similar accusations against the court on Friday night.
There was no immediate comment from the government to Toptan's suggestions.
The decision by Turkey's top court is a blow to freedom of religion and other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.
"This decision means that women who choose to wear a headscarf in Turkey will be forced to choose between their religion and their education," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"This is a truly disappointing decision and does not bode well for the reform process," Cartner said.
The US-based Human Rights Watch also criticised the ruling AK Party for failing to redraft Turkey's constitution entirely, which it said failed to protect human rights, despite launching a plan to do so after it was re-elected last year.
Turkey's ruling party denounced Friday the court's upholding of a ban on the Islamic headscarf in universities, after an emergency meeting.
Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, vice-president of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP, said the court's decision "violated" the separation of powers by overruling a majority vote in parliament.
"It is an unprecedented verdict which will be debated for a long time," he told reporters after the six-hour meeting.
Firat said Erdogan would address AKP members of parliament over the issue on Tuesday.
The AKP, backed by a number of jurists, slammed the Constitutional Court for overstepping its jurisdiction, saying it can examine only procedural flaws in constitutional amendments, and not their essence.
Senior AKP member Bulent Arinc ahead of the party meeting accused the tribunal of "abusing its powers" and interfering in parliament's legislative realm.
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