İYİ Party MP brags about teaching nationalist student oath to his parrot

Duvar English

Right-wing opposition Good (İYİ) Party deputy Ahmet Erozan has shared a video of his parrot reciting the student oath in a bid to protest the removal of the obligation to recite it in schools. 

The İYİ Party has been keeping the student oath on its agenda since the Council of State's decision to stop it from being recited in schools.

The mandatory oath was introduced in 1933 and all primary school students had to recite it at the beginning of every school day until 2013, when the obligation was removed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The oath, which aimed to give “nationalistic and moral value” to students, ends with the line "How happy is the one who says 'I am a Turk!'" It has been the source of debate for many years.

In 2018, the Council of State backtracked on the move, but the Education Ministry challenged the decision. On March 12, the council granted the ministry's complaint and canceled its decision to revive the oath, prompting criticism from the nationalists in Turkey.

Erozan on April 3 dedicated his video to those "who cannot even act like the parrot," meaning that even the animal supports reciting the oath when there are human beings objecting to it. 

Many social media users asked Erozan whether he genuinely believes this is among Turkey's most crucial issues when the pandemic is getting more severe each day amid the economic crisis.

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