‘Who do you like most, Erdoğan or Gülen?’ Turkish teacher asks primary school students


Date posted: September 28, 2016

A religious culture and moral knowledge teacher at İskenderun’s Mithat Paşa Primary School has asked students about their preference between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, parents complain.

“Who likes FETÖ and who likes Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?” the teacher known by initials M.A. has asked 4th grade students, in the latest of growing divisive language flared up by the government in the recent past.

Evrensel daily quoted parents as saying that students aging between 9 to 10, become cold of religious culture courses and prefer not to attend in classes amid similar incidents.

The school primary Berivan Kuyubaşıoğlu confirmed the report saying: “Our teacher has overly gone into details. We have sent him a written warning.”

The teacher was also reported to have asked students if they support AK Party, CHP or HDP, during last week’s class.

The Education Ministry distributed “Attempt to invade Turkey with coup” brochures at all state schools across Turkey at the beginning of this education season. Some 19 million students also watched a video of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reciting the Turkish national anthem along with footage from the night of July 15, when an abortive coup took place in Turkey.

The government accuses Gülen of masterminding the coup attempt, calling him FETÖ [Fethullahist terrorist organization] leader. The latter denies any involvement calling on government to provide evidence.


Related News

Fethullah Gülen’s message to PM Tayyip Erdoğan regarding consultants [in 2005]

Mehmet Gündem: If you were to write a letter or send a message to the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, what would you tell him? Fethullah Gülen: “Do not be content with employing consultants only from among the admirers of your party. Do not only speak with your own organizations. Benefit from the wise people who love Turkey; because they act objectively, and seek no personal gain.”

Minister says ‘parallel state’ claims not realistic, cites lack of evidence

Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazıcı told reporters on Saturday in the Black Sea town of Rize that there is a lack of evidence to substantiate claims of a “parallel state,” recalling the government’s motto of “one state, one flag, one homeland, one nation.”

Bad news for Erdoğan’s lawyers in the US

Several weeks ago, a lawyer based in England and Canada, Mr. Robert Amsterdam, announced in the US that he had been hired by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to sue Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement.

Religious leaders pray for world peace at meeting of civilizations

Religious leaders prayed for world peace at an event deemed the meeting of civilizations and organized by the Antakya Intercultural Dialogue Association (AKADİM) and Turkish aid organization Kimse Yok Mu in the province of Hatay

A Case Study In How Lobbyists For Turkish Government Manipulate The American Media on Gulen Issue

Turkish news outlets lit up this weekend after a former Republican lawmaker published an op-ed at The Hill calling on the U.S. government to extradite Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Muslim cleric whose return to Turkey is an obsession for the NATO nation’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Fethullah Gülen’s Statement on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

As the United Nations and the international community recognize the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, humanity is witnessing the suffering of millions of children, together with their families, from Syria to Yemen, from Libya to Congo, and from Venezuela to Myanmar.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Fethullah Gulen promotes democracy (CBS News)

Turkey warns Kazakhstan over Gulen-linked schools

How Turkey is emerging as a development partner in Africa

Outspoken lawyer barred from taking up Gulen-linked cases

Turkey’s Armenian Community: We are ready to be cultural bridge between people of Turkey, US

Gülen, Hizmet, the state and the AKP

Excitement of Turkish Olympiads felt in Ethiopia

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News