Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin: You are imposing your own invented understanding of secularism, this is unacceptable

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin first visited the governor's office in Batman, where he arrived to attend the AKP's 8th Ordinary Congress.

In his speech, Tekin said, "You understand secularism as putting the religious freedom of Muslims under shackles. You are imposing a secularism you invented yourself on me."

Stating that a universal form of secularism is not practiced in Turkey and that a secularism invented specifically for Turkey is being imposed on him, Yusuf Tekin referred to the times when headscarves were not allowed in universities in his speech. He spoke about the 'persuasion rooms' and the February 28 period.

"WE PAVED THE WAY FOR KURDISH COURSES"

Speaking there, Minister Tekin said, "We will leave no door unknocked. This is truly important right now. Because we are living in a period where disinformation is at its peak. What kind of Turkey was it before 2002? Just imagine it. Let alone teaching Kurdish in schools, we lived in a Turkey where someone speaking Kurdish on the street was viewed as a potential enemy. Look, during the AK Party government, we introduced elective Kurdish courses in schools. We paved the way for the opening of private Kurdish courses, and we paved the way for elective Kurdish courses in private schools.

DEM Party deputies ask. They say, 'You opened them, but they are not being chosen.' They ask why, saying 'The state is pressuring people not to choose them.' It means there is one structure that prevents the opening of Kurdish courses and elective Kurdish classes, and that is themselves. They are obstructing it; they do not allow these classes to be opened. The private education courses we opened are about to close due to a lack of students. The reason is them.

The issue is not whether it is in favor of or against the Kurds; the issue is to prevent Kurds from feeling sympathy for the government and our President. They have no other concerns, no other efforts. I wonder, how many of them have a social life that overlaps with the social life and political thoughts of the Kurds? They do this by covering their own marginal leftist thoughts with the veil of 'we are defending the rights of Kurds.' In fact, they are engaging in politics by using you—sincere Kurds who adhere to the law of Muslim brotherhood—to integrate their own ideological perspectives with other types of structures in the international arena, structures that will be hostile to Turkey. What they are doing is openly and clearly this," he said.

"DO YOU THINK YOU ARE BENEFITING KURDISH CHILDREN?"

Minister Tekin said, "The geography we live on was a geography where 72.5 nations lived in brotherhood. Until when? Until the Unionists (Ittihatists) became dominant in this country. One of the most tragic events in my life is the process we experienced regarding our teacher Aybüke and our teacher Necmettin, as well as other teachers kidnapped by the PKK at that time. Well, if you want Kurds to receive education, to have software developers and medical doctors; shouldn't you protect the teachers we send to these schools and the schools we build there like the apple of your eye?

Do you think you are benefiting Kurdish children by putting our teachers here in distress, facing them with life threats, and burning and destroying our schools as we experienced during the trench incidents? On one hand, burn our schools, kidnap and kill our teachers, and on the other hand, say, 'Kurdish children cannot get an education.' Friends, is this a correct policy? Is this a consistent policy?

It is not reasonable to say that people who do this are thinking about the rights of Kurds or the future of Kurdish children. Let the state continue to serve. In 2002, we had 2,387 classrooms in Batman. Do you know how many classrooms we have now? 7,278. I am not saying we doubled the number of classrooms built in 80 years; we have tripled it. In 2002, when the AK Party came to power, we had 3,482 teachers in Batman. How many teachers do we have now? 10,355. We had 373 schools back then, now we have 793 schools," he said.

"YOU ARE IMPOSING A SECULARISM YOU INVENTED YOURSELF ON ME"

Minister Tekin noted the following: "The secularism you understand is this; remember the 1940s. Locking the doors of mosques, turning mosques into stables, banning citizens from learning the Holy Quran. This is what you understand from secularism. You did these things as a requirement of secularism. So, what you understand from secularism and what I understand from secularism are not the same. By secularism, I understand that the freedom of religious belief and worship of all citizens, regardless of which religion they believe in, is guaranteed by the state. I am in favor of universal secularism. You are imposing a concept of secularism specific to Turkey, which you invented yourself, on me. This is unacceptable."

'RESIGN' CALL FROM ALİ MAHİR BAŞARIR

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır, who brought Minister of National Education Tekin's remarks on secularism to his social media page, addressed Tekin, who does not find the definition of secularism in Turkey universal, with the following words:

You shameless and immoral man!

There is no cleaning, no hygiene in the schools where you are the minister, and no food for the students. You make protocols with obscure foundations, you hand over education to obscure religious sects.

And then you come and criticize secularism. You should do your job first!

Live with honor, resign!

FROM DENİZ YÜCEL TO MINISTER TEKİN: YOU HAD BOWLING PLAYED IN MOSQUES

CHP Spokesperson Deniz Yücel, quoting the statements of Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, said, "We did not close the mosques, but you had bowling played and clown entertainment organized in mosques within the scope of the ÇEDES project."

CHP Party Spokesperson Deniz Yücel reacted by quoting Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin on his social media account.

Yücel's statement is as follows:

"Lies have made a nest in your mouth, you enemy of the secular republic, Yusuf Tekin! We did not turn mosques into stables, we did not close them, but you had bowling played and clown entertainment organized in mosques within the scope of the ÇEDES project. Stop lying and deal with the sects you are so fond of."