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.
The Hizmet movement’s Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) released a statement on its website on Thursday in which it said it is worried about the profiling of citizens, civic groups and public employees. It demanded that all the legislation that is reminiscent of the old, anti-democratic Turkey must be revised to ensure their full compliance with fundamental rights and freedoms.
Crackdown in Turkey felt in Capital Region
Volunteers at the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany offered Turkish language and cooking classes, invited the public to Ramadan friendship dinners and sought to build a bridge between East and West by leading a dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. They were research scientists, professors, graduate students, state employees and restaurant owners.
“We will celebrate a new world”
The languages, faiths, colors, countries or flags of the two thousand Turkish Olympiads participant students who hyped up millions in 55 cities and on tens of TV channels were different. Yet, they shared the common mission to build a new world filled with love.
Mother detained over Gülen links while premature baby left in intensive care
Ş.A., a former private school teacher and mother of a week-old premature infant, was taken into police custody over links to the faith-based Gülen movement while she was on her way to the hospital to feed the baby.
Once They were Brothers – Bir Zamanlar Kardeştiler
Kanter himself has faced legitimate threats from Erdoğan’s government. In 2017, Kanter escaped Turkish agents in Indonesia while working at a basketball camp for his foundation. He was detained in Romania for several hours and Turkish authorities had already cancelled his passport, making him a stateless man. Eventually, he was able to return to the United States, but not without a Turkish arrest warrant and a four-year prison sentence.
33rd Abant Platform: whither Turkey?
In his speech at the opening of the first session, Prof. Seyfettin Yuksel said: “If it had been said a few years ago that we would be discussing ‘Turkey’s direction’ in the coming years, none of us would have believed it. We were sure about Turkey’s direction.” Unfortunately, nowadays Turkey’s direction is seen as uncertain, and the country has strayed not only from its foreign policy but also from democratic norms and the rule of law in its domestic policies. Here are my notes from the conference.
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