Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu stated he had ordered the closure of Turkish schools in 160 countries, arguing that the officials of those schools had sent letters to the leaders of foreign countries in which they complained about the Turkish government. The closure of these schools is a serious step, but the reason for the closure is not based on real evidence.
Who wrote those letters? Who were those letters sent to? What was written in those letters? If those letters were written by Ahmet or Mehmet, is it right to punish Ayşe, Fatma, Hasan and Hüseyin? Do they [the government] have the right to punish all of Turkey and silence the national anthem being sung in 160 countries? Tell me, gentlemen, who gave you this right? Why hasn’t the prime minister, who said he was threatened over the closure of prep schools, made public the names of those who threatened him? What happened to [Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy] Mehmet Ali Şahin’s “imam of the Supreme Court of Appeals”? Have members of the parallel structure who placed bugging devices in the prime minister’s office been found?
UN representative found evidence of torture in Turkish prisons
The majority of the abuse occurred during the times of arrest and interrogation, his report noted, adding that most of those who have been subjected to torture have not filed complaints “for fear of retaliation against them and their families and because of their distrust in the independence of the prosecution and the judiciary.
Education remains an alarming concern for scores of Syrian refugees
The topic of providing education to the Syrian refugee children was recently addressed by a meeting hosted by Kimse Yok Mu, the Journalist and Writers Foundation and the Peace Islands Institute (PII) in a panel held at the United Nations in New York.
Romanian-Turkish Schools gear up for flood survivors
Romanian-Turkish Schools’ students donated their pocket money for the past month’s flood survivors in the eastern Romania. Moreover, the students delivered the aid in person to those living in trailer houses. The aid recipients who lamented desolation more than the sufferings the flood caused were in tears upon receiving the supplies.
Should Hizmet establish a political party?
If the Hizmet movement had believed that services to Turkey can best be provided through politics, it would have done so from the beginning. Civil society has a special place in democracies. One can also serve the country by rejecting democratic pressures and upholding rule of law and individual freedoms.
Parents criticize gov’t-led police raids on educational institutions
A number of parents staged a protest on Friday against raids police carried out by the police on Thursday as part of a government-led operation against 26 private schools and educational institutions in Kahramanmaraş province that are inspired by the Gülen movement, a faith-based civil society movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Turkey’s Internet watchdog blocks access to website broadcasting Gülen’s speeches
Turkey’s state-controlled Internet watchdog, the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), has blocked access to herkul.org, a website that regularly broadcasts speeches by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
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