The Minister of National Education, Tekin, attended the district congresses in Erzurum.

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin attended the AK Party district congresses in Pazaryolu and İspir in Erzurum. Upon his arrival in İspir, Minister Tekin was welcomed with a show by the Erzurum Bar team and visited the AK Party District Presidency. Speaking at the congress held in the İspir Fazilet Dağcı Çığlık Conference Hall, Minister Tekin said, “The people of Erzurum have always been on the side of the right, have always stood with those who do good work, and have always been behind their leader. We just watched the message from our esteemed President. Our esteemed President said, ‘I thank my Lord for giving me comrades like you.’ I personally thank my Lord for giving us the opportunity to do politics behind such a leader.”

Responding to criticisms regarding his ministry and himself, Minister Tekin stated, “They criticize us. They cannot openly say this. They can’t say that what you say is not suitable for the social structure of Anatolia, and that we underestimate the people of Anatolia. What do they say? They criticize us for other reasons as well. I say that behind us is the brave and courageous heart of the Anatolian people. We set out trusting them.”

Minister Tekin, who stated that he studied at one of the best schools in Turkey, said, “I did my master’s, I did my doctorate. But because I graduated from an imam hatip (religious high school), I couldn’t get appointments from rectors. Such is Turkey. Right now, none of these, whether it is people’s headscarves, ethnic identity, religious identity, or sect, is a problem in Turkey. Look, this is very important; we achieved all of this together. Our esteemed President led us.”

Stating that people used to wait for hours in hospitals, Tekin noted, “Now people from other countries come to Turkey to see doctors. All these things we are talking about happened between November 3, 2002, and today. Our President says, ‘We continue on the path.’ We have done it, but it is no longer enough; we will continue. We identified the needs that day and solved the needs of that day. Now, today, there is a completely different Turkey.”

“Now, while we are doing these things, we have an opposition in front of us,” Minister Tekin continued his speech as follows: “Especially the Republican People’s Party and the DEM coalition have come forward to criticize us. For example, they initially distanced themselves from Atatürk. However, only during one government period were there prohibitions related to Atatürk; between 1938 and 1953. When that didn’t hold, they started criticizing us in other ways. For example, one of the things they criticize me for is that I say, ‘The main job of the Ministry of National Education, of national education, is to raise young people who possess the values, history, and culture of this society. This is one of my main responsibilities.’ They criticize me, saying that what I say is contrary to secularism. I say this is not contrary to secularism; it is contrary to your mindset. What you think is to turn mosques into barns and to ban Quran courses. Now, is it possible for their understanding to overlap with mine, friends? Currently, we have headscarf-wearing judges, prosecutors, doctors, headscarf-wearing academics, and headscarf-wearing members of parliament in our country. Now, if we look from their mindset, it is impossible for us to meet in the same framework.”

The congress was attended by Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin, AK Party Erzurum deputies Mehmet Emin Öz, Fatma Öncü, Provincial President İbrahim Küçükoğlu, Metropolitan Mayor Mehmet Sekmen, district mayors, and party members.