10 percent of Turkish parents willing to send children to schools affiliated with religious sects

Duvar English

Some 9.7 percent of Turkish parents are still willing to send their children to schools affiliated with religious sects, if they had the chance, a survey conducted by Optimar Research has revealed.

Some 77.3 percent of survey participants said that they would not send their children to a religious sect school if the government were ever to allow the existence of such schools.

Some 13 percent of survey participants said they are “uncertain” regarding the issue, whereas 9.7 percent said they would send their children to such a school.

The survey was conducted to understand the Turkish public's view of religious sects in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, which is widely believed to have been staged by the Gülen network.

Following the coup attempt, the Turkish government shut down all schools affiliated with the Gülen network. Currently, there is no school in Turkey known to have ties to any religious sect.

8.5 percent of Turks still 'trust' in religious sects

The survey also asked participants if the “July 15 coup attempt has affected their perception/trust of religious sects in a negative way.” Some 54.6 percent said it did not have an effect as they did not trust them in the past and are still not trusting them.

Some 24.5 percent of participants said they used to trust religious sects whereas now this trust has faded away, whereas 8.5 percent said they still “trust” in them. Some 12.4 percent on the other hand said they do not have an opinion regarding the issue.