Termination without severance at the Private Italian High School: 'Leave the school'

12punto.com.tr

Cenk BAŞBOĞAOĞLU 

At the Private Italian High School in Istanbul, a historic 123-day resistance that began on February 2, 2026, to protect rights and end discrimination and exploitation, had concluded with an official agreement that functioned as a collective bargaining agreement. The employment contract of Deputy Principal Özgür Doğu was terminated without severance on the grounds that he stood with the teachers. 

While the employment contracts of two teachers who had returned to their school under the guarantees of the signed official agreement were terminated last month on baseless grounds, union sources predicted that the school administration would continue its wave of layoffs with other teachers. 

The historic 123-day strike process of the Tez-Koop-İş member teachers at the Private Italian High School in Istanbul had concluded with an official agreement that functioned as a collective bargaining agreement. 

''LEAVE THE SCHOOL TODAY''

However, immediately following this achievement, the school administration launched an open liquidation operation to break the organized and unionized struggle within the institution. As part of this unlawful process, following the dismissal of two Turkish teachers on June 17, 2026, this time the school's highest-ranking Turkish administrator was directly targeted. 

The employment contract of Özgür Doğu, a Tez-Koop-İş member teacher who has served successfully at the high school for 12 years and has held the position of Turkish Deputy Principal for the last 10 years, was terminated without severance on the grounds that he stood with the Turkish teachers throughout the strike, despite having no disgraceful conduct or professional misconduct.

During the delivery of the termination notice, the tone and approach of the institution's lawyer, Hafize Özdilek, who told a 12-year educator to "Pack your things and leave the school today," were described by union sources as "clearly contrary to law, professional dignity, and basic rules of courtesy."

''IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE''

While the dismissal in question directly contradicts the official agreement signed under the mediation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the written state commitments personally signed by the Consulate General of Italy in Istanbul, this attitude of School Principal Giuseppe Finocchiaro, which violates official commitments, not only violates labor laws but also reaches a dimension that will damage the official authorities of the Republic of Turkey and the administrative and diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

Teachers who are members of the Tez-Koop-İş Union, expressing their reactions to the issue, say, "It is absolutely impossible for our union to turn a blind eye to this exclusionary and oppressive treatment of Turkish educators by a foreign school administration on our own soil." 

WHAT DOES THE REPORT SAY?

On the other hand, a large-scale investigation conducted by inspectors from the Ministry of National Education's Board of Inspection was completed on May 11, 2026, and the official Inspection and Investigation Report numbered 9073/08,10 was notified to the Italian High School as of June 24, 2026. According to the report obtained by 12punto, this official report prepared by the state's high-level oversight mechanism confirmed that School Principal Giuseppe Finocchiaro had clearly "discriminated" against Turkish teachers. 

In the investigation report prepared by the inspectors, it was determined that the institution's administration victimized Turkish teachers by not organizing weekly course schedules fairly and balanced, ended classes early with arbitrary decisions on days when the school was open, and employed unauthorized and unregistered personnel outside the education and training services class. 

Furthermore, according to the report, "The school administration did not assign classes to personnel with work permits, but instead unlawfully assigned a person without a work permit to teach, placed an education staff member on unpaid leave without official approval, and clearly violated Article 9 of Law No. 5580 by assigning teachers outside their own branches." 

''APPLICATION WILL BE MADE IMMEDIATELY''

One of the findings in the report is that some students who did not even take the LGS (High School Entrance Exam) were enrolled in the school in complete violation of regulations and official admission requirements. 

According to the union, "In the face of all these irregularities, illegalities, and discriminatory practices, which are also confirmed by the official inspector's report, we hereby warn the relevant school administration to immediately cancel the employment contract terminations of our member Özgür Doğu and our other teachers who were unfairly dismissed and ensure their reinstatement. Otherwise, our union will immediately resort to all kinds of legal and criminal paths, primarily reinstatement, union compensation, and discrimination lawsuits."

''WE CALL FOR IMMEDIATE APPLICATION OF PENAL ACTIONS''

Regarding the incident, the Union stated, "We call on the authorities of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, who are on the distribution list, to immediately implement the administrative, financial, and penal actions foreseen in the report regarding this administration, which employs unregistered personnel and makes irregular student registrations by ignoring laws and inspection reports. We demand and report that the Consulate General of Italy in Istanbul, by remaining loyal to the state commitments it has signed, use its diplomatic and administrative powers immediately to prevent these unlawful activities of School Principal Giuseppe Finocchiaro, which clearly harm the relations between the two countries and labor peace."

News Source: 12punto