Eduction ministry's bans on New Year's Eve and Christmas celebration questioned
HDP’s İstanbul MP Garo Paylan submitted a parliamentary question on the official letter of education ministry’s district directorate of İstanbul’s Şişli where school managements and teachers were asked to ‘avoid news year’s celebrations and activities, such as decorations, parties, etc., that are related to it’ in order to ‘embrace and protect the traditions and culture of people of Turkey’.
While a message of the same sort was initially sent by directorate of education ministry for İstanbul’s Bahçelievler district and by the management of a German school again in İstanbul, similar notices were forwarded in other areas, such as Adana and Muğla, too.
MP Paylan posed the following questions to be answered by Minister of Education İsmet Yılmaz:
- What is really meant by the phrase ‘not suiting to our cultural values’ in the official letter?
- How does the Ministry of Education make the differentiation between Christmas and New Year’s Eve?
- What is the reason for banning Christmas celebrations in schools that are attended by Christian students?
- Are religious holidays considered by the Ministry of Education as special occassions that could be banned?
- While lottery awards have been a part of New Year’s Eve celebrations in Turkey – through Milli Piyango (National Lottery) -, why is students’ gift-exchanging activity perceived as a problem and banned?
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/hdp-li-garo-paylan-dan-yilbasi-cikisi-141188.html