TURKEY MARKS 80 YEARS OF ADOPTION OF SWISS CIVIL CODE

The New Anatolian
Oct 5 2006

The New Anatolian/ Ankara

The country is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the adoption of
the Swiss Civil Code, after a cold snap between the two capitals,
with Swiss Justice Minister Christoph Blocker in Turkey on a visit.

Ties between the countries cooled after a Swiss public prosecutor
launched a criminal investigation against the head of the Turkish
History Foundation (TTF) in Switzerland over a speech he made denying
the Armenian "genocide," a violation of Swiss law. Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul described the Swiss investigation as "unacceptable" and
"absolutely contrary to the principle of free speech."

Historian and Turkey expert Hans-Lukas Kieser, in an interview with
swissinfo, explained how the Islamic sense of justice, the remnants
of the Ottoman Empire and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s aspirations of
European legislation came together.

Q: How did Turkey come to adopt a large part of Switzerland’s
legislation 80 years ago?

HANS-LUKAS KIESER: An important reason was that a brand new state
was being created by a young elite — some of whom had studied in
Switzerland.

The Swiss Civil Code was also considered to be the most modern,
the most simply formulated, the most concise and with the greatest
popular touch.

Q: What changes did this "legal revolution" cause?

KIESER: There were violent changes. Family law is to a certain extent
the nucleus of society and this shift meant the complete abolition
of the Sharia tradition.

Q: Were there also changes concerning women’s rights?

KIESER: Of course. Under traditional Islamic law women are seriously
disadvantaged when it comes to inheritance or divorce and that changed
at a stroke — even if it’s been effective for only a part of society.

Q: Did the introduction of the civil code go smoothly, or were there
obstacles?

KIESER: One of the largest obstacles is power being imposed from those
at the top — in other words, not a grassroots democracy. In this
respect there was resistance to this very authoritarian behavior by the
state, not only from traditional Islamic groups but also from liberals.

Even though the civil code was widely accepted by the elite, its
implementation took decades. It’s only recently that we’ve been able
to talk of a more or less complete implementation.

Q: Did the civil code cause differences of opinion between Turkey
and sympathetic Islamic states?

KIESER: The introduction of the civil code and the abolition of Sharia
law led to resistance, especially from Islamic thinkers and religious
academics. These intellectuals considered that it could only lead to
a decline of Islamic teaching.

Q: The Turkish Civil Code was revised at the end of the 1980s. Did
this lead to a greater religious influence?

KIESER: No. It emphasizes just how dramatic the legal revolution had
been in this respect, as it’s still holding up. The revision took
place at the same time as that of the Swiss Civil Code. The Swiss
federal court’s decisions and commentaries were even translated.