ÇEDES persecution against teacher: 'Children won't touch money because it has Atatürk's picture on it'

Serkan Bebek, a primary school teacher in Bursa, received a reprimand and was reassigned after opposing the "I Am Sensitive to My Environment, I Protect My Values" (ÇEDES) project and holding a banner that read, "We don't want religious sects." Highlighting the presence of religious sects in schools, Bebek said, "There are children who won't touch money because it has Atatürk's picture on it." 

Serkan Bebek

According to the report by Tarık Işık from Sözcü; Bebek described the process as follows:

'THEY DECLARED ME AN ENEMY OF RELIGION'

Together with parents, we made a statement saying, 'We don't want drugs in front of the school, and we don't want religious sects inside the school.' They reported me as an 'enemy of religion.' I requested an inspection from the Bursa Provincial Directorate of National Education regarding the sect organization and the hate crime committed against me. However, the inspectors did not investigate my complaint, but rather our activity regarding ÇEDES that took place 9 months ago.

'I WAS EXILED'

I was first given a reprimand on the grounds that I caused grouping among parents and due to my statement about religious sects. Two days later, I was exiled by having my place of duty changed. When I received the penalty, parents reacted and submitted petitions. I requested that these be included in the investigation file. The Provincial Directorate of National Education did not even process the petitions.

'THEY BECAME UNABLE TO TOUCH MONEY BECAUSE IT HAS ATATÜRK'S PICTURE ON IT'

There is a religious sect that is influential in our school district. They rented a coffeehouse. There are parents who say, 'My child went there, and they turned them against Atatürk. They became unable to touch money because it has Atatürk's picture on it.' One parent said their 7-year-old child was made to wash dishes there. Saying 'we don't want religious sects' is defending the Constitution. But they exiled me.

FETÖ TACTIC

There is an issue of establishing contact with parents through ÇEDES and accessing their information. We saw this before with FETÖ. The network at that time was established through certain school principals. They were giving the phone numbers of university students who won their exams to FETÖ members. There is a similar situation here.

Here are some ÇEDES practices...

In Muğla and Adıyaman, primary school students were made to clean cemeteries as part of the ÇEDES program.

In a school in Kars, a model grave was set up to teach students about the concept of 'patience' as part of ÇEDES, and students prayed at the grave.