ANKARA. – Turkey’s Constitutional Court prohibits Turkish citizens to have foreign names.

According to Firat agency, Turkish citizen Favlus Ay, Assyrian by nationality, sued to change his surname but court rejected. The decision is based on law for surnames adopted in 1934, which prohibits using foreign names. The citizen demanded to litigate the law in the Constitutional Court.

The law was approved by the majority, however, president and deputy president of the court were strictly against it. They considered the decision extremely racist. Nine voted for the law, eight opposed it.