Union defends plea for religion in north schools, slams media for ‘discrediting TRNC’
Source: Cyprus Mail
The Cyprus Turkish educators’ union (Kibtes)’ chairman Himmet Turgut on Wednesday defended his demand that more religion classes be taught in the north’s schools, while also issuing a wholehearted condemnation of the media’s reporting of the matter.
He said the report he had written to Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz containing a list of demands for the inclusion of more religious education in the north’s schools was simply “identifying problems in the education system and seeking solutions to them”.
“Kibtes exists to defend the rights of education workers and to increase the quality of education, and we reserve our legal rights against unfounded allegations and slander,” he said.
On this matter, he said, “I invite press organisations to produce news that complies with the concept of accurate, impartial, and ethical journalism”.
“We condemn the attempts to discredit our own state, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, on international platforms, and all the disrespectful and unfounded statements made towards Turkey and the TRNC and their authorities,” he said.
He added, “we believe that such approaches should be met within the constitutional framework and invite the competent authorities to do their duty”.
Kibtes’ rebuttal comes after a group of 27 cultural associations, mainly comprising Turkish nationals living in the north, had defended the report, claiming that the issue had been “distorted” in the media.
Positive results had not been obtained from applications made to the education ministry and to the TRNC’s state administrators at various times for years by civil society organisations and initiatives defending national and spiritual values,” they said.
They added that Kibtes’ demands had been “distorted by slander and demagogical expressions” and attacks written in “marginal publications”, when the union’s only aim was to “defend national and spiritual values”.
Among other things, Himmet’s report asked for children as young as four years old to be given “religious information courses”, provided by either the north’s religious affairs directorate or by the Turkish embassy in Nicosia’s religious affairs advisory board.
The report also decried the lack of “religious culture and moral knowledge” courses being taught at public schools in the north.
It then turned its attention to the Republic’s education system, saying religious courses “have a paramount place” in Greek Cypriot schools, and that “the government makes it mandatory to attend religious services before major Greek Orthodox religious holidays in public spaces and to receive a Greek Orthodox religious education”.
Teachers’ trade union Ktoeos leader Selma Eylem was quick to react, describing Kibtes as an “embassy-backed union” and saying its report is part of “efforts to put ideological pressure on teachers”.
She added that it is the “mufti”, a colloquial name for the religious affairs director, who “supervises teachers”.
Opposition political party the CTP also weighed in on the matter, saying, “we reject and openly condemn the statement and the report, which contain serious risks of dividing society and targeting teachers”.
It said this report was proof that Kibtes “is not concerned about a quality, modern education”.
Akel also weighed in on the matter, calling Kibtes’ report “an extension of Turkey’s interference in the Turkish Cypriot education system to make it consistent with the Islamic agenda imposed in Turkey”.
“Akel supports the Turkish Cypriot community’s right to an independent education system,” it said, saying that this is a “goal supported by the majority of Turkish Cypriot teachers’ unions and progressive political parties”.
To this end, it said its member of the European parliament Giorgos Georgiou had submitted a question to the European Commission, asking whether it is aware of the issue and “what measures it intends to take to support the Turkish Cypriots’ right to an independent education system”.
The original article: belongs to Cyprus Mail .
