World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey's Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal filed by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) requesting the annulment of a recently approved law, which increases the duration of compulsory education from eight years to 12, on procedural grounds.

The CHP, a staunch critic of the law, filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court last month. The Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the appeal on Thursday. In its appeal, the party argued that the law was not appropriately adopted as procedures for discussing and voting on the bill were violated by the commission. The party showered Parliament with a series of proposals to create a filibuster in a bid to prevent the bill from being adopted, but the ruling party prioritized the bill to avoid a filibuster.

In initial comments on the top court's decision, CHP parliamentary group Deputy Chairman Emine Ülker Tarhan said the party will file a new appeal again seeking annulment of the law, but this time based on its content.

The law increases the current duration of compulsory education from an uninterrupted eight years to 12 years and divided it into three four-year stages. The bill is popularly known as the 4+4+4 bill. The education reform bill was adopted by 295 votes.

The bill, passed in Parliament in March and approved by President Abdullah Gül within weeks, allows children to enroll in other types of educational institutions, namely vocational high schools, after the first four years.