According to mainstream media reports, the ceremony to mark April 23 Children’s Day at the Ataturk Elementary School in Kartal, Istanbul, turned into a crisis. The planned program that took place in the school’s courtyard began with the chanting of ezan [Islamic call to prayer] by a child dressed as a soldier, after which all children performed a collective namaz [Islamic prayer]. Then it was the turn of girls to perform a dance, but the principal of the school Mehmet Karaman stopped the music and terminated the ceremony abruptly because he found the girls’ costumes “too revealing”.
Source: Milliyet, Vatan, Haberturk.com, Turkey, April 24, 2008
