Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday defended a directive to introduce Ramadan-related activities in public schools, rejecting criticism from opponents who said the move undermines secular principles in Turkey.
Education Minister Yusuf Tekin issued a circular ordering schools from pre-school to high school across the country to organize religious activities during the holy month.
Critics say this has opened a fault line in Türkiye, a constitutionally secular state. They accuse the government of seeking to Islamize the education system and undermine the separation of church and state.
“What was done is right, appropriate, legal and… a very useful service that reflects the feelings of our nation,” Erdogan told lawmakers from the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party in parliament.
He said that schools will organize discussion programs and breakfasts aimed at enhancing cooperation between the school and the family, adding that participation will be voluntary.
Erdogan, a devout Muslim and graduate of a religious school, had previously said that he aimed to raise a “pious generation.” But this statement struck a chord among secular Turks who accuse his government of pursuing a broader religious agenda.
-“It’s not a crime” –
The Ministry of Education’s circular led to an online protest petition, which has so far been signed by more than 42,000 people. Among them are more than 160 prominent figures, including writer Aisha Kolen and actress Magdy Ar.
The petition says Türkiye was facing a “reactionary siege under Sharia law.” She adds: “Defending secularism is not a crime. We will not surrender to darkness.”
On Wednesday, Erdogan rejected the report, accusing its authors of repeating “their well-worn song ‘Secularism is in Danger’ and accusing them of double standards.”
“They don’t get upset when Christmas decorations are put up,” he said.
He added: “They are not upset when all kinds of questionable nonsense is organized in the name of New Year or Halloween celebrations.”
“But when our children are taught, on the cusp of Ramadan, the national and spiritual values of these lands, they immediately feel uncomfortable.”
Erdogan repeated his long-standing argument that secular policies of past decades discriminated against religious citizens, which was widely interpreted as referring to the ban on Islamic headscarves in state institutions that his government lifted in 2013.
“Their cause has never been truly secularism,” Erdogan said.
“Their cause is with the sacred values of these lands, with the national and spiritual values of this nation, their cause is with this nation itself.”
Devlet Bahçeli, Erdogan’s right-wing ally and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, also supported the Ramadan circular issued by the Ministry of Education and attacked the petition.
“If belief in God is reactionary, then we are also reactionary,” he told his party’s meeting in parliament on Tuesday.
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