‘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

Ultranationalist Columnist Says Turkey Must Get Rid Of Gülen Followers, Hints At Mass Burning

Sabahattin Önkibar, a columnist for the Aydınlık daily, which is affiliated with the ultranationalist Homeland Party (VP) of Doğu Perinçek, said on Sunday that Turkey must immediately get rid of sympathizers of the faith-based Gülen movement and hinted at their mass burning.

Joint mosque-cemevi project will contribute to peace in Turkey

Protests against a joint mosque-cemevi (Alevi house of worship) complex project are meaningless because the project will help alleviate tensions between Alevis and Sunnis in Turkey, Alevi community leaders said on Monday. During the groundbreaking ceremony of the complex in Ankara on Sunday, a group of nearly 500 people protested against the project, clashing with […]

Arrested After Giving Birth: Turkey’s Post-coup Crackdown Reportedly Hits Maternity Wards

Following the abortive putsch on July 15 2016, allegations of unfair trials, using torture in prisons and holding suspects without trial have been made against Erdogan’s government. And now, it has been alleged that Turkey is arresting women accused of links to the Gülen movement immediately after they give birth.

Truth and reconciliation in post-Erdoğan era

One way to repair the damage dealt by the Erdoğan government in the last couple of years and to provide some form of closure for the dark period of Erdoğan’s third term in government is to set up a truth and reconciliation commission. Without discounting the role of the criminal justice system, a truth commission can be utilized in a complementary role to help citizens move on with their lives in Turkey after colossal wrongdoings in the government.

Police raid prominent journalists’ foundation GYV in Turkey

GYV’s members strongly protested the police measure. Underlining that the raid violated standard protocol, high-ranking GYV official Recep Usta expressed; “the protocol states that VGM technical teams can come to the building and conduct examinations; and should they find any violation, a period of a month is granted to us [to fix any issues].

It is a great loss that Turkish Olympiads were not held in Turkey

The efforts of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) municipalities and districts to ensure that the Turkish Olympiads were not held in Turkey this year led to some strong reaction. Former Foreign Minister Yaşar Yakış, also one of the founders of the AK Party, expressed his sorrow about the obstacles that were deliberately manufactured to hinder the organization of the event.

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

Tanzanian students place first in Turkish Olympiad folk dance final

Erdogan presses Kyrgyzstan for action against Gulen group

Ex-ministers call on gov’t to abandon efforts to shut down Turkish schools

Is Hizmet being subjected to genocide? (2)

CHP leader says Erdoğan’s UN speech only served to promote Gülen movement

Ex-AK Party deputy Özdalga: Gov’t wants to make judiciary subordinate to executive power

Turkish PM’s wife praises devotion of Prague school’s teachers

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News