Criminal complaint filed against Minister Tekin

ADD President Hüsnü Bozkurt stated that they have filed a criminal complaint against Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin regarding the new curriculum announced to the public as the “Turkey Century Education Model,” based on the ‘misconduct in office,’ ‘violation of the Constitution,’ and ‘incitement to disobey laws’ articles of the TCK. Bozkurt also announced that they will file a lawsuit at the Council of State for a stay of execution and the cancellation of the new curriculum.

The statement made by Bozkurt on his X account is as follows:

“We have filed a criminal complaint against MoNE Yusuf Tekin regarding the ‘New Curriculum,’ which is of a ‘Constitutional crime’ nature as it is clearly contrary to the Constitution, which was announced by the Ministry of National Education under the name ‘Turkey Century Education Model,’ and which the minister announced would be implemented despite objections. Furthermore, as the Atatürkist Thought Association, we are filing a lawsuit at the Council of State for a stay of execution and cancellation. We respectfully submit this to the public’s information.”

The text of the ADD’s criminal complaint is as follows:

“With the new concepts introduced by the new curriculum presented by Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin and titled ‘Turkey Century Education Model,’ the principle of unity and equality in education has been abandoned, the scientific, secular, and democratic understanding of education has been forsaken, and religion-weighted content has been arranged in place of science, culture, art, and philosophy courses; therefore, dogmatic qualities far from scientificity have gained weight. Whereas, while the duty of the Minister of National Education is to make arrangements that will raise secular individuals who have democratic consciousness and respect human rights and freedoms, the new model implemented emphasizes religious and national elements while giving no place to national values such as Atatürk, secularism, and the republic.”

“THE PRINCIPLE OF SECULARISM HAS BEEN DISREGARDED”

In the 3rd paragraph of Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, titled ‘Right and duty of education and training,’ it is stated: ‘Education and training shall be conducted under the supervision and control of the State, in accordance with the principles and reforms of Atatürk, and on the basis of contemporary scientific and educational principles. Educational and training institutions contrary to these principles shall not be opened.’ For this reason, the new education model clearly constitutes a violation of the Constitution. Likewise, according to the interpretations of experts, the curriculum in question is incompatible with international standards, and the education that will begin to be provided through the language used and the concepts of death, coup, and war envisioned constitutes a violation of the child’s right to quality education from a pedagogical perspective.

In addition, Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, who implemented the aforementioned new education system, stated during his speech at the budget negotiations in Parliament: ‘As of 2023, the Ministry of National Education has 2 thousand 709 protocols in effect... Among these, we have 10 protocols in total with structures that you call ‘sects and communities’ and we call ‘NGOs.’ I also thank those who support us with these protocols. We will continue to make protocols with them.’ Since he has made such expressions, it is clearly evident from which perspective the new education system was prepared, and the principle of Secularism, which is one of the fundamental characteristics of the state regulated in Article 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, has been disregarded.

“IN THE CRIME OF VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION, ONE MUST ALSO START WITH ACTS SUITABLE FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE CRIME”

The Minister of National Education, who has the duty to raise generations that will carry Turkish society above the level of contemporary civilization, has committed the crime contained in Article 309 of the Turkish Penal Code because he has disregarded fundamental principles such as secularism with the new curriculum he has prepared. In the aforementioned article, it is stated: ‘Those who attempt to abolish the order envisaged by the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, or to replace this order with another order, or to prevent the actual implementation of this order by using force and violence, shall be punished with aggravated life imprisonment. If other crimes are committed during the commission of this crime, the relevant provisions for these crimes shall also be applied. For legal entities, security measures specific to them shall be ruled for the commission of the crimes defined in this article.’

Here, regardless of whether the act performed by the perpetrators of the crime for the purpose also constitutes a crime, one must look at what the purpose is. For this reason, the crime of violating the Constitution is a crime of free movement. Therefore, it is one of the sudden crimes that is consumed by the performance of the act. However, just as in other crimes and attempts at these crimes, in the crime of violating the Constitution, one must start with acts suitable for the execution of the crime, and for the act to be considered suitable in this crime, first and foremost, it is required to be coercive. By coercion, it is meant that it can be physical coercion as well as moral coercion.

“THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION IS CLEARLY ACTING CONTRARY TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF HIS DUTY”

Since it is obvious that the commission of the crime will be easier due to the public power possessed by the Minister, who holds the public power of the state due to his duties, it should be taken into account that moral coercion will be sufficient for the person in question. Likewise, in the aforementioned crime, what is meant by violating the constitution is not just an act contrary to the regulations stipulated in the Constitution with force and violence, but the preservation of the principles dominating the constitutional order and the norms contained in the constitution in writing, while preventing their actual implementation or rendering them dysfunctional. Therefore, when evaluated together with what is explained above, the allegation that the crime of violating the Constitution has been committed by the suspects should be investigated.

In addition, in Article 257 of the Turkish Penal Code, titled ‘Misconduct in Office,’ it is stated: ‘Except for cases defined as a crime in the law, a public official who causes the victimization of individuals or damage to the public, or provides an unfair advantage to individuals by acting contrary to the requirements of his duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to two years. Except for cases defined as a crime in the law, a public official who causes the victimization of individuals or damage to the public, or provides an unfair advantage to individuals by showing negligence or delay in performing the requirements of his duty, shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to one year.’ In the events subject to the file, it is clear that the Minister of National Education clearly acted contrary to the requirements of his duty or, at the very least, neglected to perform the requirements of his duty, and therefore an investigation should be conducted in this respect as well.

“FILING A CRIMINAL COMPLAINT ON BEHALF OF THE ADD ARISES FROM THE RESPONSIBILITY GIVEN BY THE REASON FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT”

The obligation to file a criminal complaint on behalf of the client Atatürkist Thought Association arises from the responsibility given by the reason for establishment contained in the association’s charter. The Reason for the Association’s Establishment is: ‘Some negative forces inside and outside, emboldened by the fact that Atatürk’s physical presence is no longer among us, have brought their open or covert attacks against Atatürk’s revolutions and principles to a peak in these days, exactly 70 years after May 19, 1919, when He took the first step towards creating the new Turkish State. Worse than this, with a planned and insidious effort, they are in an effort to destroy those revolutions and principles in the future.

“WE REQUEST THE FILING OF A PUBLIC LAWSUIT TO PROCEED TO THE PROSECUTION STAGE”

The contemporary state founder, who has adopted and made adopted as a principle that the national economy should not operate in a haphazard manner according to the whims of entrepreneurs, solely based on profit and competition mechanisms, but should be directed by the state in a way that meets the needs of society and all citizens; who has adopted and made accepted that the Turkish people benefit from the underground and surface riches of our country; who rejects racism by introducing the criterion that everyone who says ‘I am a Turk’ within the borders of the National Pact is a Turk; who created a constructive, positive, and contemporary Turkish Nationalism and made it one of the fundamental principles of our state; who makes it the primary duty of the state for every citizen to get their share of education, science, and art, and for ‘generations with free ideas, free knowledge, and free conscience’ to be raised; who considers the purification and enrichment of the Turkish language, in addition to the adoption of new Turkish letters, as a great social duty so that we can get rid of cultural imperialism and education can be widespread; who connects the history of the Turkish nation to the origin of contemporary humans; who condemns brute force, racism, and wars of aggression in state life and international relations with the principle of ‘Peace at home, peace in the world’; who makes the criterion of ‘being an honorable member of the world family of nations with equal rights’ and the ‘rule of reciprocity’ an indispensable principle in foreign policy; who sows the seeds of the idea of the integration of humanity by emphasizing that all nations are part of the human family. In the face of this situation, those who believe that Atatürk’s revolutions and principles have the quality of shedding light on the solution of our social problems and have creative power have felt the necessity of contributing to the dominance of His revolutions and principles in the future and acting as their guardians by establishing the ‘Atatürkist Thought Association,’ which explains the reason for taking part as a party in this file. Based on the reasons explained above and those that will be taken into account ex officio; we request that the necessary investigation be carried out by the Honorable Prosecutor’s Office regarding the suspect and that a public lawsuit be filed to proceed to the prosecution stage.”

News Source: 12punto