Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Turkish PM Calls For Stronger Secular System

Demonstration at the Ataturk memorial in Ankara (epa)

May 20, 2006 -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the strengthening of Turkey's secular system after the assassination of a top judge.

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May 20, 2006

Erdogan said all efforts should be made to strengthen democracy, secularism, and the rule of law.

The May 17 attack on the country's highest administrative court left one judge dead and four others injured. The suspected gunman, a lawyer with Islamist sympathies, said his actions were intended to punish the court for upholding a ban on headscarves in public institutions and universities.

The incident has sparked anti-Islamist and antigovernment protests.

Erdogan's government has been accused of emboldening religious extremists by voicing its opposition to the headscarf ban and through its frequent harsh criticism of court rulings.

(AFP)

Education And Islam

An Afghan child prepares for the first day of school(epa file photo)

KEEPING KIDS IN SCHOOL. Education raises many vexing social issues in impoverished and predominantly Muslim countries like Afghanistan and the countries of Central Asia. In these countries, many students fail to complete their education for reasons ranging from poverty to discrimination.
“One of the main problems is the distance between the child’s home and the nearest school building. This is particularly a problem for adolescent girls because families quite understandably don’t feel comfortable allowing the girls to walk long distances unaccompanied to the classrooms,” says a UN aid worker in Afghanistan...(more).

See also:

The Role Of Religion In Classrooms

Madrasahs Reject Government Crackdown Efforts

Madrasahs Lead Religious Teaching Revival

UN Report Finds World's Children 'Excluded And Invisible'