Bilal Erdoğan directive in schools: 'Organize it'

The Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), which operates under the National Will Platform and the Humanity Alliance—where Bilal Erdoğan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, serves on the board—is preparing to hold a march on January 1st at the Galata Bridge in Istanbul under the slogan 'We do not forget Palestine'.

Ahead of the planned march, Bilal Erdoğan, in a statement regarding the organization, drew attention to President Erdoğan's approach to the Palestinian issue and stated that Islamic countries should unite around this leadership.

Eğitim-İş Union President Kadem Özbay announced to the public that the call for the march was conveyed to schools without the use of any official written correspondence. According to a report by Taylan Gülkanat from the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Özbay stated that school administrations were being activated and that unofficial channels were preferred for the march to be held on the first day of the year.

Emphasizing that written notification was deliberately avoided to evade official responsibility, Özbay said that phone calls and face-to-face contacts were used instead.

ALLEGATION THAT AN 'ORGANIZE IT' INSTRUCTION WAS GIVEN

According to the statements, instructions were conveyed to school administrators who are described as being close to the government or who have ties to foundations and religious sects, to organize student participation in the march. Özbay stated that in this process, schools were being turned into logistical areas for political and ideological organizations.

Stating that school administrators largely carry out their duties based on relationships of loyalty, Özbay expressed that this situation creates pressure on administrators and that the instructions in question are being fulfilled for this reason.

Stating that teachers were being assigned to these tasks in practice, Özbay reported that classrooms were being entered and announcements were being made to students. Saying that there are examples of exam dates being changed to facilitate participation in certain organizations, Özbay stated that this constitutes an interference with the educational calendar.

Expressing that structures similar to TÜGVA approach children not as students but as potential gains, Özbay stated that this approach continues in the march organizations in question.