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Education Erdogans conservative AKP has doubled religion class hours, removed evolutionary theory from classrooms and shut down universities in his bid to raise a pious generation.

Turkeys Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party during a meeting at the Turkish parliament. Credit: Reuters/Umit Bektas

While the earliereducation reforms of Turkeys socially conservative AKP (Justice and Development Party) pointed towards inclusiveness, the current ones have a far more troubling direction.

Not content with removing around 45,000 education ministry staff from the government payroll following an abortive coup in July last year, Turkeys ruling party is now looking to take down Darwin.

Last month the government announced thatthe theory of evolutionwouldbe removed from the teaching curriculum at Turkish schools until students reach university.

The announcement adds to evidence cited by concerned secularists who suggestTurkeys education system is being remodelled in line with President Erdogans bid to raise pious generations and forge a New Turkey.

Efforts to rejigthe countrys teaching curriculum along more religious lines are not new, dating back at least asFebruary 2012.

What has changed since is President Erdogans seemingly unassailable position in post-coup attempt and post-referendum Turkey.

New Turkey

Despite its shrunken majority and the ever-increasing polarization of the Turkish electorate or perhaps because of these things AKP is pushing its policy agenda more aggressively than ever before.

Along with the ban on evolution in the classroom, the AKP educational reforms will seethe governments narrative on the 2016coup attemptembedded in school syllabi, while class time dedicated to modern Turkeys secular founder Kemal Attaturk will be reduced.

Forced enrolment of some school-age students intocontroversial religious imam-hatip stateschoolsis another feature of the new education agenda.

The AKP government won praise from both liberals and conservatives for managingtoreverse the countrysrepressive ban on headscarfs in universities back in 2010.The moveallowed womenfrom observant Muslim families to receive furthereducation.

But the imam-hatip schools have faced criticism for discouraging girls from doing that very thing.Secularists seetheschools growing rolein Turkeys education system as yet another sign thatAKP is trying to recast the country in its own traditionalist image.

An evolving threat

Accordingto the head of curriculum for the Turkish education ministry, teaching evolution in schoolsis controversial, but opponents of the ban were quick to side with science.

(They have removed evolution from the curriculum, biology class hours have been reduced by 33%, while religion class hours have been increased by 100%. God willing, we are going to get ahead of Iran soon.)

(They are removing evolution theory class. I am not wondering what they are going to teach our children.)

(There wont be any classes on evolution. But there are classes on Sharia criminal law and religion. This is the meaning of New Turkey.)

(Biology class, first class, first slide: evolution is real, and cannot be argued against. I have remembered this for 29 years. The teacher was right.)

The international response has also beencritical:

Currently the evolution ban only applies to schools, but many fear that universities are being targetedfor a serious government-led overhaul, too. Thousands of academics weredismissedfrom their jobs following the military coup, whileout of 180 universities currently operating in Turkey, 15 wereshut down.

This article originally appeared in Global Voices.

Categories: Education, External Affairs, Religion, Science, Society, World

Tagged as: AKP, Erdogan, evolutionary theory, new turkey, no-donate-link, pious generation, Sharia, Turkey coup

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In Turkey, Erdogan's Post-Revolutionary Agenda Invades Classrooms and Threatens Universities - The Wire

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Turkey protesters stage long march against Erdogan - BBC News

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday reaffirmed Turkeys support for Qatar in its dispute with four other Arab states, saying their demands against the Gulf nation were unacceptable. When it comes to this list of 13 items ... its not acceptable under any circumstances, Erdogan said in an interview with France 24 television. Some of the terms were tantamount to stripping Qatar of its statehood, he added. We remain loyal to our agreement with Qatar. If it requests us to leave, we will not stay where we are not wanted, he said. Erdogan was quoted as saying in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit published yesterday that "what is being done with Qatar runs counter to international law." He said the demand for the Turkish base to be closed shows "a lack of respect towards us and Qatar" and added that "the Americans are also there, with 9,000 soldiers, and so are the French." He asks: "Why are the Saudis disturbed by us and not by that? This is unacceptable." Erdogan also criticised a demand for the closure of broadcaster Al Jazeera, saying Ankara "will support Qatar in every way, because we share the same values, have good relations and we cannot be silent about the injustice."

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Turkey and Qatar share same values: Erdogan - The Peninsula Qatar

Tens of thousands have been killed over 40 years of bloodletting between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and tragically there seems to be no end in sight. In May 2016, President Erdogan stated that military operations against the PKK will continue until the very last rebel is killed. What is alarming about Erdogans statement is that he still believes he can solve the conflict through brutal force. Erdogan does not understand that he cannot wish the Kurdish problem awaya problem that will continue to haunt him and the country for countless more decades unless a solution is found that respects their cultural and fundamental human rights.

There are 15 million Kurds, representing nearly 18 percent of the Turkish population. Like their Turkish counterparts they are largely Sunnis, but their cultural distinction trumps their religious beliefs. They are fighting to preserve their ethnic identity, fearing that otherwise their culture and language would fade away and die.

The history of the conflict is long, complicated, and painful. In the 1970s Abdullah calan raised awareness about the Kurds plight, which was followed by crackdowns by successive Turkish governments, leading to the formation of the PKK and further escalation of violence over the years.

Under intensifying domestic and EU pressure, Erdogan agreed to restart negotiations in late 2012, which collapsed by July 2015. In the wake of the failed military coup in July 2016, Erdogan moved to crush the PKK and Kurdish aspirations, even though to date there has been absolutely no proven connection between the Kurds and the coup plot. His rampage against the Kurds continued despite the US and EUs call to stop his heavy-handed approach that grossly violated their basic human rights. Only recently, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir that around 14,000 Kurdish teachers will be suspended, falsely accusing them of having ties with the PKK.

What made matters worse was Erdogans authorization to launch a fierce attack on PKK forces who were embedded in a civilian Kurdish-majority community in the southeast. A UN report documented human rights violations including killings, disappearances, torture, destruction of houses, and prevention of access to medical care, while leaving the area in ruins.

Between July 2015 and December 2016, more than 2,000 were killed, including 1,200 civilians and 800 members of Turkish security forces, and more than 500,000 were displaced. Hundreds of members of the Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) were put behind bars on charges of collaborating with the PKK. Erdogan continues to refuse to negotiate, insisting that the PKK is a terrorist organization and must be brought to heel by military force.

Certainly, what is wrong or right matters, but what we must face here is a reality that neither side can ignore and expect to find a solution that can exclusively meet the requirements of either side. After more than four decades of bloody conflict that has claimed the lives of so many, and the destruction from which hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Turks have suffered, when will Erdogan come to his senses that the solution lies only in peace negotiations?

What is worse is that the international community, especially the EU and the US, has been publicly silent about Erdogans transgressions and ruthlessness. They often cite Turkeys role in fighting ISIS, its NATO membership, and its geostrategic importance as an energy hub as the reason behind their unwillingness to pressure him to change direction.

That said, and regardless of the challenges that Turkey facesincluding the fight against ISIS, a deteriorating economy, domestic upheaval aggravated by the failed coup, and the pressure of hosting three million refugeesnothing justifies Erdogans outrageous purges.

His utter disregard for human rights by jailing scores of Kurdish journalists, arresting a dozen Kurdish parliamentarians, employing collective punishment tactics against Kurdish towns and villages, and attacking Syrian Kurds whom he accuses of providing aid to the PKK, only further heightens tensions throughout the country, invites terrorism, and leads to increasing social and political polarization.

As a believer who preaches the gospel of Islamic values, he vilifies and violates these values and conveniently justifies the indiscriminate killing of innocent Kurdish men, women, and children, and still shamelessly claims self-piety.

Erdogans demagoguery is second nature to him. As President Kennedy said in the 1960, Voices preaching doctrines wholly unrelated to reality [delude themselves that] strength is but a matter of slogans. Erdogan claims that Turkey is a full-fledged democracy, but he is dismantling the last vestiges of the countrys democratic governance that he himself promoted during his first and second terms in power.

He claims that the Kurds have equal political and human rights like any other Turkish citizen, and points out the fact that there are 110 Kurdish parliamentarians. True, they are equal under the Turkish constitution, but in practice are systematically discriminated against in government appointments, business contracts, job opportunities, and education.

Erdogan simply does not grasp the fact that even if the Kurds were treated equally in every walk of life, what they want is in line with and even complimentary to the framework of Turkish democracy. They are not seeking a state of their own, but simply to live freely as loyal Turkish citizens and enjoy their customs, folk music and dance, and way of life consistent with their long and rich cultural heritage.

The irony is that while Erdogan wants the Kurds to be loyal citizens, he never understood that their allegiance to the country depends on the way they are treated, the rights they are granted, and the civility they are accorded. To demand from the Kurds unconditional loyalty while robbing them of their basic rights only further alienates them and forces them to seek, fight, and die for autonomous rule if not independence, which he is bent on preventing.

I do not support, and I condemn any individual or group who uses brutal force for political or social gains regardless of its source, motivation, ideology, or belief. Erdogan and the PKK are equally guilty, and must pause and think where all this killing and destruction will lead to, when at the end of the day they will still have to coexist and face one another.

When violent extremism is on the rise, when human rights are fair game, when terrorism is surging, when ethnic violent conflicts are escalating, and when thousands of men, women, and children are slaughtered, leaders of conscience must not add fuel to the raging regional fires that have been consuming us unmercifully and relentlessly.

The PKK must not play into the hands of dictators like Erdogan by killing innocent civilians; as long as they are viewed as a terrorist group, they will not receive any support from influential civic organizations and the Turkish population in general.

To shed the stigma of being a terrorist organization, the PKK must declare a unilateral ceasefire and express its readiness to enter peace negotiations unconditionally, which would increase public pressure on Erdogan to resume peace talks.

Absent American leadership, the EU must assume upon itself the responsibility to use its enormous political and economic leverage to stop Erdogan from pursuing ruthless methods and policies not only against the Kurds, but his own fellow Turkish citizens. Erdogans nationalist zealotry is dividing the country and could potentially lead to widespread violence among the Turks, while further intensifying regional instability.

Mr. Erdogan, wake up. You will not succeed in killing every PKK fighternot only because of the nature of guerilla warfare, but primarily because of the Kurds determination to preserve their rich cultural heritage, language, and fundamental human rights. They will remain resolute and will outlast you, regardless of how much pain and suffering they endure under your tyrannical governance.

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The Kurds Under Erdogan's Tyrannical Governance - HuffPost