The Compass Direct website reports that the European Court on Human Rights on February 2, 2010 ordered Turkey to remove the religious affiliation section from citizens' identification cards, calling the practice a violation of human rights.
Religious minorities -- and in particular Christian converts -- in Turkey have faced discrimination because of the mandatory religion declaration on their identification cards, which was enforced until 2006. Since then, citizens have been allowed to leave the "Religion" section of their IDs blank.
"Religion on the ID has been known to affect whether people get a job or not," said Zekai Tanyar, president of the Turkish Protestant Alliance, citing prejudice against Christian converts. "Therefore, I think the ruling is a good and appropriate thing," he added.
The Court found in a 6 to 1 vote that any mention of religion on an identity card violates human rights. The country was found to be in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights -- to which Turkey is a signatory.
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