‘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

Cihan TV network celebrates 10th birthday

AYTEN ÇIFTÇI / MEHMET TAYANÇ / KORAY TEKIN, İSTANBUL The Cihan TV network, which encompasses 94 local and regional television broadcasters, marked the 10th anniversary of its establishment on Thursday night. Members of the network, established in 2003 to strength local media, benefit from accurate, fast and trustworthy news sources for free. A reception was […]

2014: a difficult year?

Turkey’s political life has entered a zone of turbulence. Some people were already accusing the governing team of being time worn, which is only normal after 11 consecutive years in power.

We could not have imagined so many insults

They hope to cover up the corruption investigation and the reassignment of thousands of police officers and dozens of prosecutors and judges that had been planned much earlier. When the prime minister opted to use the language of insult, his copycat ministers and deputies who want to be popular with the prime minister began to use even more violent language.

73-year-old says looking after grandchildren as daughter, son-in-law behind bars

The 73-year-old mother of jailed teacher, Ayşe Çakır, says she has been left to look after her grandchildren after the government imprisoned her daughter as well as the son-in-law.

Media’s test with politics: this is utterly disgraceful

As we are about to tolerate this scandalous error, he writes a very harsh article about the rift between the [Gülen] Community and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), targeting the Community. In this article, his tone is like that of a party spokesperson. Does he want certain columnists to be censored or silenced? Does he want them to be fired? The news ombudsman of the paper where he is the chief columnist is fired.

Countdown for operation against Hizmet Movement

Even though the government has already removed from duty thousands of people, including police officers and members of the judiciary, it would have difficulties persuading “civil servants” to launch an operation against the community [Hizmet movement].

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

Former Fenerbahçe chairman Ali Şen’s grandson killed in car crash

Gülen movement can serve as bridge between Islamic and secular nations, intellectuals agree

Fethullah Gülen sends a message to the conference “Peacebuilding through Education”

Mining disaster victims commemorated by Senegalese students

Approval rate of Turkish schools abroad at 78 percent

Fethullah Gulen named the world’s No. 1 public intellectual

Turkish PM calls on Islamic scholar Gülen to return to Turkey

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News