Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Turkish parliament rejects motion to censure education minister - iht,europe,Turkey Censure Motion - Europe - International Herald Tribune

The government gets off the hook for getting rid of secular teachers in favor of Islamic ones:

"Turkey's Education Minister on Tuesday escaped censure over accusations he had promoted thousands of religious teachers and sacked secular employees.

The opposition had proposed a motion censuring the Islamic-rooted government's education minister Huseyin Celik.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party, which has a majority in parliament, easily defeated the motion to censure Celik for alleged abuse of power and for allegedly raising Islam's profile in the secular education system.

The opposition parties accused Celik of ousting secularist school principles, teachers and local education officials and replacing them with religious studies teachers.

Celik was also accused of inserting religious references into school text books — such as claims that washing before Islamic prayers would increase the number of red blood cells.

Secularists accuse Erdogan's government of trying to raise Islam's profile in this predominantly Muslim country that is ruled by strict secular laws. Last week, Turkey's new military chief, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, accused the government of nurturing fundamentalism."
Turkish parliament rejects motion to censure education minister - iht,europe,Turkey Censure Motion - Europe - International Herald Tribune

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