“Education is the latest flashpoint between the administration of President Tayyip Erdogan, and secularist Turks who accuse him of overseeing creeping ‘Islamisation’ in the NATO member state.” What? They oppose Islamization? But…but…we’re constantly told in the U.S. that only racist, bigoted Islamophobes oppose Islamization. How did Turkey get so full of racist, bigoted Islamophobes?
Kemalism Death Watch Update: “Turkish police use water cannon on protesters decrying religion in schools,” Reuters, February 13, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
(Reuters) – Turkish police used water cannon in the western coastal city of Izmir on Friday to disperse scores of protesters boycotting schools over the growing influence of religion in the classroom, local media reported.
Education is the latest flashpoint between the administration of President Tayyip Erdogan, and secularist Turks who accuse him of overseeing creeping ‘Islamisation‘ in the NATO member state.
Riot police were out in force on Izmir’s streets, with water cannon being used to disperse banner-waving demonstrators who had gathered in the centre of the city, according to pictures from Dogan news agency. At least one person was seen being led away by plain clothes security officers.
Parts of some regular schools have been requisitioned to create more places for students in “Imam Hatip” religious schools championed by Erdogan, where girls and boys are taught separately.
Almost 1 million students are enrolled in those schools, up from 65,000 when AKP came to power in 2002.
The boycott was organised in cities across the country by a teachers union and associations from the minority Alevi community, the Hurriyet Daily News website reported.
Around ten people in Istanbul were detained by police, the paper added. A Reuters witness said hundreds of people, mostly school students, joined one protest in the city….
Angemon says
My guess is that Erdogan will somehow blame Israel for the protests.
Scott says
Exactly right.. gotta have the “Israeli link”.
AJ Liberphile says
Pislamic State announces special Valentines Slave Market
http://liberphile.com/2015/02/13/pislamic-state-announces-special-valentines-slave-market/
pdxnag says
Mandatory membership in the Turkish branch of Islamic State. It offers the benefit of a lifelong Islamic hate fest, 24/7/365.
Georg says
I’m glad to see articles like this occasionally. Many of the people I’ve met of Turkish descent are decidedly chilled-out and don’t strike me as being receptive to Erdogan’s crap. Then again, many people I’ve heard about of Turkish descent cause all sorts of problems in their host countries… Meh. What to do…
citycat says
Islam hides its intent until the time is ripe to separately bully each country
If protests were world wide then perhaps more attention would be drawn to the problem
Georg says
I wholeheartedly agree. Geert Wilders has spoken about when they “change their tune” upon whatever demographic it may be for that particular zeitgetist/realpolitik. I find Islam to be so, so, far off-base as to what’s acceptable societal discourse that I feel I’m arguing against sheer absurdity. That might seem like a fun game of polemics here or there, but after years it’s become exasperating.
As Martin Luther King said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’. I don’t like to get caught up in any person’s charisma, or whatever societal PC-ness might propel this quote into discursive prominence at the moment, but I think as a matter of moral physics he is thankfully right. Nastiness and its underlying absurdity will tend to go away; absurdity’s foundations are necessarily precarious. And what is untenable tends to disappear. It must be chased out at every turn, and for this we should thank Robert.
We need the brave.
particolor says
They cant even Keep the Peace in their own Country’s. What hope have we got ?
I hope those Water Canons were full of Boar Water !! 🙂
jayell says
What’s ‘Boar Water’?
Charli Main says
Pig urine——-
Vatandas says
Sadly, the Turks that I’ve met blame the USA/CIA for Erdogan’s ascendancy to power via the Galen political machine. Any country that makes it a crime to criticize its president is not a democracy.
Vatandas says
That should be, “the Gulen political machine.”
Nicu says
Those who are the stone- age Turks are all living abroad – and vote for Erdogan ….
Twisted world – an many ways !
Charli Main says
Izmir, or Smyrna to give it its REAL Christian name. The city where hundreds of thousands of Christians were butchered in the streets by the Muslim Turks in 1922.
The city where the Turkish Government declared that it WAS NOT A CRIME TO KILL CHRISTIANS.
After this massacre of Orthodox Christians, even the Turks were so ashamed, that they changed the name of the city to Izmir, so that the rest of the world would not remember the Turkish atrocities, when the name Smyrna was mentioned.
I know–I know –it never happened–its all lies, invented by spin doctors, trying to blacken the name of Islam and blame all those innocent, peace loving Muslims that were living in Smyrna, ooopppps, I meant Izmir, at the time.
Betty says
Maybe they need to change it back to Smyrna. so people will remember. just because you change something doesn’t mean it did happen.
Falsafa says
I would have let C.Main get away with his “genocide” claim in Izmir during the liberation of the city from the invading Greek army, but that would be a disrespect to the Turkish civilians who perished (I won’t go into the gory details of how the ethnic cleansing was conducted – but certainly a precursor to the war in Bosnia where Greeks also took part in the massacre at Srebrenica) in Izmir, Manisa, Bilecik, Usak and other towns and villages across western Anatolia for the glory of Megali Idea pursued by the Greeks. No…that would be a great disrespect.
Falsafa says
My family is from Izmir by the way…and I have no problem with the ancient name Smyrna…I am proud to be living in a land with such depth in history.
JamesSmith says
Yet your country still remains a hole and only one step away from being a sharia hole.
By all means, live your life in denial and dream the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians simply disappeared peacefully to make way for a perfect islamic society of muhammadan turks. A fine example of an inferior culture, replacing a superior culture and centuries later still feeling insecure about itself… Because it became a hole. A sharia hell hole.
Falsafa says
“yet your country remains a hole…”
is you say so…I mean who can argue against such “effective, persuasive” reasoning!
looks to me like your describing the current bankrupt state of Greece than Turkey > aiming to becomea top ten global economy within the decade.
Falsafa says
Correction to the first sentence above:
If you say so….
jewdog says
I happened to be in Turkey during the protests. Disturbed by the brutality of the police, I traveled to Erdogan’s palace to express my displeasure in person. I rang the doorbell. A huge, bald, one-eyed, sword-bearing guard who looked like a thug version of Mr. Clean ushered me in.
“So, what brings you here, lowly Infidel?”
“Well, your Highness, I was just wondering if you knew that water-cannoning protestors is bad publicity for Turkey and Islam? I mean, people in the West may become more Islamophobic and stop buying Big Turk candy bars. Besides, everyone in Turkey may not want to send their kids to madrassa-like schools since modern Turkey has a secular tradition and is a proud member of NATO and President Obama likes you and…”
“Silence! Infidel Dog! We do what Allah commands us to do! Do you understand? Seize him, Hazmat!”
The huge oaf then grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and tossed me down the steps of the palace. I licked my wounds for a while and trotted back to my hotel, tail between my legs.
This is “modern”, democratic Turkey.
particolor says
Now count Your Fingers !! 🙁
Jeff says
A great many “Muslims” are Muslim by name only. The various threats they face from family and community for apostatizing keep them from doing so formally. This hold especially true in Muslim majority countries.
More Ham Ed says
Is that president Tayyip Erdogan or president Taqiyya Erdogan.
S.SuchindranathAiyer says
Obama and the Saudis will say the Russians or Iranians are Islamizing Turkey and the Pakistanis will insist that it is India that is eradicating secularism in Turkey.