teachers and citizens take to the streets against imams in schools

The local branch of the Diyanet has appointed 800 religious experts in the primary and secondary institutes, which is equivalent to a third of the total schools in the city. It is a government-backed pilot project that assigns imams the role of “spiritual guides and educators.” One more sign of the Islamization of the country. A Turkish journalist was arrested for demanding respect for the rights of prisoners, including Abdullah Öcalan.

Istanbul – The teachers’ union and secular parties in Izmir, on the west coast of Turkey, organized protests against the decision of the local Religious Affairs Office (Diyanet) to appoint imams and Islamic preachers in a third of schools primaries and secondaries. According to the intentions of the promoters, the Islamic leaders will have the function of “spiritual guides and educators” within the institutions, promoting morality and the dictates of the Muslim faith. Activists and critics are attacking the decision taken by radicals and conservatives, whose sole objective is to tighten control over schools and educational programs in a scheme that could soon be extended to the rest of the country.

Signed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Diyanet in 2021, the protocol on the appointment of (Muslim) spiritual advisors is just the tip of the iceberg of a policy of increasing “Islamization” of schools and the country . It is a pilot project, backed by the government and by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, closely linked to the Office of Religious Affairs, and contemplates the presence of imams and scholars as “guides” in primary and secondary institutions. The decision provoked the indignant reaction of a large part of the families of Izmir, a largely secular and secular center where the presence of the (Muslim) religion is becoming stronger and stronger in the private spheres of citizens’ lives.

The CEDES project, an acronym for “I protect my environment and vindicate my values”, has increased fears that the powerful Diyanet – strengthened by the electoral triumph of the conservative Justice and Development party (AKP) – redoubles its efforts to reinforce its hegemony in the education system. Nejla Kurul, president of the Egitim-Sen teachers’ union, expressed her concern to the independent broadcaster CanTv. “This,” she said, “is not an innocent project whose goal is to raise awareness about the environment and provide guidance based on values. It is yet another attempt to impose the Sunni Islamic lifestyle on children and undermine the secular education system, which should be protected by the Constitution. Diyanet is making its way, step by step, in education, which is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education”.

What triggered the protest of teachers and parents was the assignment – about which all the media reported – of 800 imams and religious guides in as many schools in the city, carried out by the Izmir Office of Religious Affairs, which means a third of the total number of primary and secondary schools in the city. In the last two weeks, various parents’ associations, left-wing movements (halkevleri) and opposition parties led by the republican CHP demonstrated chanting “teachers in schools, imams in mosques”. It is a fight for secularism in a city where there are Jewish, Catholic and Orthodox communities and even close to 800,000 Alevis, heterodox Muslims who make up about 20% of the more than 80 million inhabitants of Turkey.

News of the arrest of journalist Merdan Yanardağ for criticizing the prison conditions of the leaders of the PKK (a Kurdish fighting movement that Ankara considers a terrorist organization) also comes from Turkey at this time. Yanardağ asked, among other things, that the rights of Abdullah Öcalan himself be respected, starting with the possibility of meeting his relatives in his cell. The Istanbul justice considers that the journalist’s words are “propaganda” in favor of a “terrorist organization” and that is why he was arrested and is at risk of being prosecuted.

In an interview with TELE1, the journalist said, referring to Öcalan, that he is “the oldest political prisoner in Turkey. If normal laws were in force – he added – he should be released”, but they keep him in jail in “hostage” conditions, which the authorities use as a “threat”. After spending the night in a cell, the court ordered the Yanardağ’s pre-trial detention for the crime of “propaganda.” Since his imprisonment in 1999, Öcalan has only been allowed a few visits from lawyers and family.