Turkey’s top daily Hurriyet reported that Burdur’s Director of Education Recep Yigit has sent multiple written directives to administrators of all schools in the city urging them to have their students read the pro-AKP, Islamist dailies Yeni Safak and Star Gazete, and asked them to encourage parents to purchase them.
Some employees in the Directorate of Education said that Yigit was trying to please the AKP government, while others said he may run for mayor in the upcoming local elections and wants the support of both the AKP and its supportive media.
Leaders of unions of educators told the press that the intention was to instill Islamist views among students and their parents, another attempt to erode Ataturkist thought in education.
Source: Hurriyet, Turkey, March 13, 2008
