Diyanet union official targets graduation ceremonies, says they evoke ‘erotism’
An executive of a Diyanet union has targeted graduation ceremonies, saying that they have been evoking “erotism” with dances and “clothes that trample on our religious and national values.” Diyanet-Sen’s Amasya Merzifon district head Hüseyin Kayıkcı went further with his remarks, calling on the state to intervene in this situation.
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An executive of a union representing employees of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has targeted high school and university graduation ceremonies.
“High schools’ graduation ceremonies have turned into erotism. In the school gardens, young girls are being made to wear clothes that trample on our religious and national values and dance. Girls and boys are close to each other. Movements and dances are themed with erotism,” Diyanet-Sen’s Amasya Merzifon district head Hüseyin Kayıkcı was quoted as saying by the daily Cumhuriyet on June 15.
“Unethical dances are performed in state schools; under the name of graduation, spiritual wealth is being destroyed. And graduation ceremonies undertaken by conservative universities are not less than the doings of others…We are going through a moral crisis. Families and executives are responsible for all of this. We are expecting our state officials to lay hands on programs such as graduation,” he further said.
The Amasya branch of the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) has reacted against Kayıkcı’s statements. The branch’s head Mustafa Özgün said that Kayıkcı had committed a crime by “intervening with personal rights and freedoms, explicitly insulting and objecting to laws.”