Turkey calls on parents to report Erdogan critics at German schools
Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wave Turkish flags during a pro-government protest in Cologne, Germany July 31, 2016. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
Date posted: February 16, 2017
Turkish consulates in Germany have been organizing events for Turkish parents and asking them to spy on critics of the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkey at German schools, according to an education trade union, GEW (Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft).
“The Turkish consulates are pushing parents to intimidate teachers and to report teachers who criticize Turkey or President Erdoğan,” GEW official Süleyman Ateş told German media.
“We certainly know about such events in the Turkish Consulates in Düsseldorf and Essen. In other cities, we have heard from parents that there should have been such events, ” Ateş said.
Earlier, German authorities launched investigation into Turkish imams affiliated with Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB) who were alleged to have been spying on Erdoğan’s critics.
A document dated Sept. 20, 2016 said that the Turkey’s religious directorate Diyanet asked Turkish missions and religious representatives abroad to profile Gülen movement expatriates living in their respective countries.
Peter Pilz, an Austrian opposition lawmaker claimed this week that Turkey has also been operating an informer network via its embassy in Vienna that targets Erdoğan critics.
PM’s discourse over ‘no family, children’ offensive, hurtful
On Feb. 23, Prime Minister Erdoğan targeted Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli due to his criticism of the government in the ongoing corruption investigation, saying: “He does not have any concept of family. He has no such concern. We know what children mean,” in an obvious reference to Bahçeli’s unmarried status.
University preparatory courses and the Hizmet movement in Turkey
Most (university) preparatory courses (in Turkey) are run by the Hizmet movement, and it is very clear that the government’s steps to close down such courses, an action against the movement, will negatively affect a great number of people. Many analysts said it is impossible for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which does not have a good relationship with the Hizmet movement, to close down preparatory courses in the run-up to the pre-election period.
Pakistan’s Sindh High Court restrains Turkish teachers’ deportation
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday restrained the concerned authority from deporting former employees of Pak-Turk International School, ruling that they can live in the country but only as refugees.
‘Parallel’ paranoia reaches the kitchen of Parliament
In the latest example of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) “parallel” paranoia, the ruling party’s Sinop deputy and head of the Parliamentary Interior Affairs Commission, Mehmet Ersoy, ordered restaurant officials in Parliament to remove a dish called “samanyolu kebap” as it reminds him of institutions affiliated with the “parallel structure,” a daily reported on Monday.
AK Party promises more despotism if it wins big in local polls
Since the Dec. 17 corruption and bribery probe, Prime Minister Erdoğan has threatened to order an “operation” against certain civil society organizations and business groups that have voiced demands for the prime minister and his government to be held accountable in the face of alleged irregularities.
Why Turkey wants to silence its academics
Where will Turkey go from here? I spend many sleepless nights, feeling just as I did when I first read George Orwell’s “1984.” Just like Orwell’s dystopian society – a society with oppressive controls – the current Turkish state and the government are, it seems, out to silence all people capable of producing new and independent thinking and research in Turkey. As most of such minds are concentrated in Turkish academia, they will all be destroyed unless they turn into obedient and pious consumers.
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
How does the Hizmet movement fare with democracy?
Laotian President Sayasone hosts Turkish school officials
[Erdogan’s] Turken Foundation: A Wolf in the Neighborhood [in the US]
Global peace as a dream to follow
Reuben Abati: Let’s Talk Turkey About Turkey
Media and education challenge in Afghanistan
Turkey dismisses another 330 academics, brings total to 7,316
