A reactionary organization called Friendship, Education, Culture and Social Cooperation Association or Dost Der hosted an event entitled "Life is good with salaat" in Mardin, a south-eastern province in Turkey. During the event, little children were given banners which said "salaat is the pillar of Islam", "salaat restrains evil" and "salaat is the greatest prayer".
As part of the event, a hundred children were given salaat training. Then they were made to perform collective salaat prayer in front of cameras.
Ekrem Açılan, the vice chairperson of Dost Der, made a public statement at the end of the event. Açılan said "Our children were given training on ablution, salaat, some basic concepts of Islam and good manners for 15 days. The aim of the program is to raise pure, well-behaved and faithful generations. The people had high interest in our program. Life is good with salaat."
Dost Der is one of the several reactionary organizations in Turkey which operates activities abusing religion and children. The ruling AKP government in Turkey promotes these associations and foundations against the principle of laicism.
