Tension has risen not only in Parliament but also in public squares. Deputies will apparently have to work for at least another full week.
Parliamentary commissions have recently worked weekends too. Yesterday [on Saturday], deputies discussed two bills, one on shutting down the prep schools [dershanes] and the other on [expanding the powers of ] the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Both bills are controversial. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) plans to shut down the prep schools instead of finding a solution for the problem [the need to improve public schools]. Prep schools do not appear to be the real issue here. The education bill is just a message to a specific audience. It turned out to be the first step in the destruction of the Hizmet movement [inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen]. The new bill [on dershanes] is not limited to prep schools. It aims to almost “reestablish” the Ministry of Education [by reassigning thousands of officials].
Turkey just snatched six of its citizens from another country
The Pristina abductions are merely the latest episode of Turkey’s global purge, the government’s campaign to pursue its opponents all over the world, which began in 2014 but has accelerated dramatically since the coup attempt of July 2016. In this time, Turkey has repeatedly resorted to extralegal means to target its perceived opponents abroad.
Consultation from Gülen’s perspective: The relationship between the ruler and the ruled
Even if the head of state or the leader is confirmed by God and nurtured by revelation and inspiration, he is obliged to conduct affairs by consultation. In fact, any society that has ignored or disregarded this practice has never prospered; rather, it has perished. So the Messenger of God saw the salvation and progress of his community in consultation: “Those who consult do not lose.”
Saving the soul of Turkey [amid the graft probe]
In terms of fundamental rights, Erdoğan does not tolerate any dissent or critical media at all. He publicly bashes reporters, labeling them traitors or foreign agents just because these members of the press corps are exercising their right to freedom of expression. Civic groups like Hizmet are unable to avoid his wrath as well and are easily accused of running “parallel structures” or “gangs” within the state apparatus with no shred of evidence to back these claims.
Pakistani students compete to advance to final of Turkish Olympiads
A total of 278 Pakistani students studying at Turkish schools, which have been operating in Pakistan for 19 years, competed in Pakistani leg of Turkish Olympiads to be qualified to participate in the 13 th International Turkish Olympiads.
Test of Turkish society
Over the past 11 years, Turkey has been undergoing an important transformation. While it seems to defend secular and modern-looking Western lifestyles, it is trying to come out of the tangle of Kemalism, which is a regime disregarding democratic values of the West. Even if Kemalism had at first dreamed of establishing a real Western democracy, it was later defiled and turned into a hegemony of the elite.
Cambodia’s Zaman Institutes Get Big-Name Backing
A couple with close ties to the prime minister have taken leading roles in Zaman-operated schools in Cambodia, a move likely to weaken the position of Turkish authorities who want the schools shut down for their alleged links to “terrorism.”
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