BBC News reports that in Ankara, Turkey today, a gunman attacked the judges of the Council of State, the country's the top administrative court, in what may have been a religiously motivated shooting. One judge died after 6 hours of surgery, and four others are wounded. One of the wounded judges, Judge Mustafa Birden, whose injuries are not life-threatening, achieved notoriety earlier this year when he ruled that a school teacher should not be promoted because she wore her Muslim head scarf (hijab) outside of school, even though she removed it, as required by law, while teaching. (See prior posting.) He has received death threats since then, and an Islamist newspaper has printed photos of him and his fellow judges. The gunman, who was carrying papers indicating that he is a lawyer, reportedly shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great) as he fired at the judges.
UPDATE: On Thursday, more than 15,000 Turks, including students and judges dressed in their robes, marched in Ankara to support secularism and to condemn the shooting of Council of State judges. (AP report.)
