Military Must Vacate the Classrooms

Screening of a movie with scenes of violence and words of hatred directed at Kurds, as part of “National Security and Citizenship” course in a high school arouses concerns among teachers and parents in Izmir.

”This is militarizing civil life” says Adil Serim, local teachers union ( Egitim-Sen ) branch leader.

Serim’s reaction is triggered by the screening of a film titled, “Why Turkey is Targeted?’ in the Alsancak Republican Vocational School for the Girls’.

In the film there were scenes of violence taking place in the Southeast of Turkey, generally inhabited by the Kurds, scene to two decades of armed clashes between the Turkish Army and the armed insurgent Kurdish group PKK.

Moreover, the film resorted to a propagandistic tone, with expressions like, in reference to the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan “the baby killer”, and to the armed insurgents “those burning villages”.

According to pro-Kurdish daily Gündem a Mardin (a Southeastern city) born student, Y.A. complains that she is ousted by her friends after the film was screened.

Screening of the film follows eruption of events signaling the rise of nationalist tendencies around Turkey.

Few weeks ago, the destruction of a Turkish flag in Mersin during the Newroz celebrations caused a nation-wide roar. More recently, the nationalists attempted lynch left-wing activists in Trabzon and Sakarya.

National Security courses teach and preach politics

A recent research, “Human Rights in the Text Books Project” by the History Foundation shows that National Security courses comprise “militaristic education within the civil education system,” says Ayse Gul Altinay of Istanbul’s Sabanci University.

These courses have become transformed into political propaganda and preaching since the curricula changes in 1998, particularly in relation to such issues like the European Union and the relations with the Kurds.

According to findings of the project, the National Security courses and text books include a sizeable number of hate speech violating human rights. The three year project was conducted by the History Foundation in cooperation with the Academy of Sciences of Turkey.

The specialists have advised that the National Security courses are removed off the curricula to be replaced by “Peace” courses.

Courses are taught by soldiers

The National Security courses are taught since 1926. According to regulations the courses are given by retired soldiers and the curricula are prepared directly by the Office of the Chief of Staff. (EÜ/SEA/EK/YE)