December 1, 2013

Prep schools and civilized debate

Markar Esayan

The prep-school debate has recently revisited Turkey's agenda after periodically ebbing and flowing since the 1980s. The prep-school sector, which is the product of the huge problems in the country's education system and students' having to pass a challenging centralized examination before attending university, has grown out of proportion and presents us with a system that needs to be regulated. For some time, the government has been mulling its plan to transform the prep schools. However, when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that they would shut down the prep schools, tensions skyrocketed.

Education quagmire

Tuğba Aydın

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the Hizmet movement, commented on a National Security Council (MGK) document in 2004 that recommended an action plan against the Hizmet movement and was signed by the government.

Report claims government categorized schools linked to Hizmet

The Turkish government classified, categorized and monitored a number of educational institutions in some way linked to Hizmet, a faith-based movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, until 2010, a Turkish daily reported on Sunday.

What is the problem between the AK Party and Hizmet?

İhsan Dağı

The state in Turkey remains the central agent capable of and willing to suppress social and economic actors. In the absence of checks and balances within the system, that results in the monopolization of power in the hands of the few, and it is inevitable that even elected rulers become authoritarian.

CHP asks gov't about audits of Tüpraş, Boydak

Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Umut Oran has submitted a parliamentary question on whether prep schools and companies, including media outlets affiliated with the Hizmet movement, will be the next target of government audits after Tüpraş and Boydak.

TUSKON attracts 1,500 businessmen from 130 countries

The 19th Turkey-World Trade Bridge 2013 event organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) was held in İstanbul last week, where some 1,500 businessmen from 130 countries held bilateral meetings with more than 1,000 Turkish companies in pursuit of business opportunities.

Social media being used as launch pad to attack some in Turkey

Social media, which provides a platform to allow people to express their views freely, has been more like a venue of polarization and defamation campaigns in Turkey over the past days, causing the destruction of reputations and even character assassinations.

Turkish-American communities host Thanksgiving events

Turkish-Americans across the US organized various activities to mark Thanksgiving Day over the past week. With the participation of numerous locals, each occasion brought together peoples of diverse cultures and faiths around the same table.