Parents criticize gov’t-led police raids on educational institutions

The private Kahramankent schools. (Photo: Cihan)
The private Kahramankent schools. (Photo: Cihan)


Date posted: July 31, 2015

ÖMER KEBELİ / KAHRAMANMARAŞ

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.

The Cihan news agency reported on Thursday that police in Kahramanmaraş launched the operation after an anonymous complaint about tax fraud and said that digital data belonging to the institutions are being examined by the police. The police carried out simultaneous operations in the Afşin, Andırın, Elbistan, Göksun and Türkoğlu districts of Kahramanmaraş.

Gathering in front of a raided school that forms part of the Kahramankent Education Institutions chain on Thursday, dozens of parents protested the raids, saying that they will not prevent them from registering their children at these schools. One of the parents, M.T., told Today’s Zaman that the Kahramankent Education Institutions have been working selflessly for 30 years in the city, adding that Turkey has been suffering from terrorism and the way to fight against terrorism is to provide good-quality education for children.

Another parent, M.A., told Today’s Zaman that her two children attend a raided school and said that she condemned the police raids on the school.
Also speaking with Today’s Zaman, Kahramankent Education Institutions Chairman Fatih Zabun said that the raids on the schools were baseless and had been planned as a warning.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has targeted people and institutions thought to be close to the Gülen movement in a series of operations since December 2013. Almost all of those detained in government-led operations have subsequently been released after a few days because the authorities fail to provide evidence proving that they had been involved in criminal activity.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claims the Gülen movement tried and failed to carry out a coup attempt against him and his government in December 2013 and has waged a self-declared war against the movement.

Source: Today's Zaman , July 30, 2015


Related News

Turkey’s top Muslim cleric visits Turkish school in Cameroon

Religious Affairs Directorate President Mehmet Görmez visited a Turkish Schoolin the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde on Monday, where he praised the contribution of Turkish schools in Africa. Görmez, accompanied by Turkish Airlines Chairman Hamdi Topçu, was welcomed at the Amity International Turkish School with a ceremony by students and school administrators. The visitors listened to […]

594 Young Children Growing Up In Turkish Prisons

Five hundred ninety-four children under the age of 6 are being kept with their mothers in Turkish prisons, Turkey’s Ministry of Justice said, the Diken news website reported on Tuesday.

Kemalo-Islamists versus civil society and Hizmet

İHSAN YILMAZ When summarizing the recent Cabinet meeting to correspondents, the speaker of the Cabinet, Bülent Arınç, referred to a religious concept, “fitnah” (sedition). He was implying that the Hizmet movement was engaged in an illegitimate psychological media campaign against his government. He even a recited a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on fitnah […]

Gülen’s solution to Kurdish issue discussed at panel

A solution to the Kurdish issue proposed by Turkish religious figure Fethullah Gülen has been discussed at a symposium in the southeastern province of Bingöl. Prof. Cengiz Yıldız spoke at the “Kurds from Ottoman to Today” symposium and gave a presentation describing a solution to the Kurdish issue as put forward by Gülen, daily Zaman […]

PKK terrorism, piety and the Gülen movement

Adem Palabıyık*, March 29, 2012 A Chinese proverb notes that if you kill somebody, you intimidate thousands of others. To this end, the assaults against the Zaman offices in Europe by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporters in recent times appear to be relevant to this proverb. Intimidation… But why the Gülen movement? The reason for […]

On Hizmet exceptionalism

What is perhaps saddest about this witch-hunt is that Hizmet is a priceless resource for any government. It serves without any burden on public funds and efforts. It is a rich source of reliable manpower devoted to selfless service and ready to raise the banner of Turkey, on peaceful terms, alongside the flags of all other nations around the world. Instead of being propelled by this free energy, and benefitting from its resources, the Turkish government acts in jealousy, and tries to destroy it.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Couple jailed for watching Fethullah Gülen videos at Internet cafe

Erdoğan says his gov’t will carry out ‘witch hunt’

Pro-gov’t daily proudly announces Gulenists put in ‘concentration camp’

Gulen turns coup accusations on Erdogan

Kimse Yok Mu extends helping hand to Haitian orphans

Turkish Cultural Center opens in New Hampshire

U.S. schools are indirectly linked to preacher, often well-regarded

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News