Asked students 'Do Muslims wear shorts?'! Criminal complaint filed against reactionary teacher

A criminal complaint has been filed regarding reactionary propaganda made by Aytaç Demir, a teacher at the Ministry of National Education's Arif Nihat Asya Primary School in Istanbul, in videos he filmed with his students.

It was observed that classroom teacher Aytaç Demir, who works at Arif Nihat Asya Primary School in Bağcılar, engaged in reactionary propaganda in videos he shared on the social media platform Instagram under the username "seninogretmenin".

In the videos, Demir is seen asking students, "Do Muslims wear shorts? Do we show these parts of our bodies to people?" and stating, "A Muslim's child is always smart and well-mannered. Aren't you a Muslim's child?"

Following the spread of the footage, teacher Demir faced backlash from numerous individuals, professional organizations, and political parties.

The Children and Women First Association and the People's Representatives Assembly of Turkey (THTM) filed a criminal complaint against Aytaç Demir at the Bakırköy Courthouse.

"DISCRIMINATORY AND DEGRADING BEHAVIOR"

In a joint press statement issued after the criminal complaint, it was stated that the teacher named Aytaç Demir engaged in words and behaviors toward his students that were incompatible with pedagogical principles, discriminatory, degrading, and violated the children's privacy.

The statement drew attention to Demir's comments, particularly regarding the children's clothing and questions such as "Do Muslims wear shorts?", stating, "The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular, and social state governed by the rule of law. The events that have taken place are a concrete manifestation of the efforts in recent years to move education away from scientific principles and toward religious indoctrination."

Lawyer Serenay Yaman, speaking on behalf of the Children and Women First Association and the People's Representatives Assembly of Turkey, stated the following:

"The events that have taken place are a concrete manifestation of the efforts in recent years to move education away from scientific principles and toward religious indoctrination. Fundamental rights such as observing the best interests of children, protecting their privacy, and keeping them away from abuse and neglect are being violated by these unacceptable behaviors. It is never acceptable for a teacher to use their own belief system to guide students with religious references.

"WE WILL FOLLOW THE LEGAL PROCESS"

Defending the rights of our children and preventing such acts of abuse is our most fundamental duty. Therefore, we respectfully inform the public that we have filed a criminal complaint against the teacher in question within the framework of the provisions of the Turkish Penal Code. Our criminal complaint includes detailed legal assessments that the acts in question constitute the crimes of 'Child Sexual Abuse, Violation of Privacy, Misconduct in Public Office, Recording of Personal Data, and Inciting the Public to Hatred and Hostility or Degrading.'

We inform the public that we will meticulously follow the legal process and that our children's rights will be defended to the end. We will continue our struggle to ensure that all necessary legal mechanisms are activated to prevent such rights violations and that those responsible are punished."

News Source: 12punto