Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete
Turkey rolls back secular education for 'pious generation'
http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-rolls-b...074102704.html
"...Turkey has long enshrined the secular ideals of founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, particularly in an education system that until recently banned Islamic headscarves in schools and made schoolchildren begin the day reciting an oath of allegiance to Ataturk's legacy. Now proponents of Turkey's secular traditions claim President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking a new path, building a more Islam-focused education system to realize his stated goal of raising "pious generations."......."
You would have to of been reading these forums for years following Turkey and it's slow march to radical Islam under Erdogan to understand this is just another step.
But many still believe in Turkey as if it was 20 years ago.
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Although half-Greek, I am a great admirer of Kemal Attaturk. He had the courage to go against the grain, singlehandely but what I most like about him is he wrote the words that I feel are the most gracious ever written to the enemy on the monument to the dead, killed at Gallipoli.
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours…
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace, after having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."