Government-linked Ensar Foundation instils jihadism into school children

The pro-government Ensar Foundation made a call for jihad with the end goal being the establishment of an Islamic state in textbooks that it handed out to children in religious "imam hatip" high schools in Ankara
Hayreddin Karaman (R) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (L).
Thursday, 09 November 2017 17:25

The pro-government Ensar Foundation, known for a child abuse scandal, made a call for jihad with the end goal being the establishment of an Islamic state in textbooks that it handed out to children in religious imam hatip high schools in Ankara.

The foundation handed out textbooks, calling school children to organise for an Islamization movement, in religious imam hatip high schools in Turkey’s capital Ankara. The author of the textbooks, Hayreddin Karaman, is known close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

The textbook contains statements such as "There is a need for a grassroots movement, which is willing to sacrifice up to and including their own 'lives', for the establishment of an Islamic state", Evrensel daily reported.

"THOSE WHO DO NOT DESERVE IMAM HATIP SCHOOLS ARE TRAITORS"

The book, which brings forward proposals about how the Ensar Foundation would contribute to the struggle for the establishment of an Islamic order and how Islamic imam hatip schools should be used for this cause, notes that "There are teachers who have not received the initial teacher training necessarily to imam hatip schools…Those who do not deserve imam hatip schools are traitors…"

Criticizing the founding fathers of the Republic of Turkey, the book also states that "What does the Ensar Foundation aim to do? In the program of the founders of the Republic, there are no descendants of the Ensar."

"LET'S INITIATE AN ISLAMIZATION MOVEMENT"

In his book, Karaman claims that the opportunities of the current period have not been adequately utilised, and that these opportunities would not continue longer. He explains the organisation that they would establish, and its organisational grassroots:

"We have so many schools under our control; we should reform them. We must also organise the alumni. We should reach the grassroots, integrate with the Muslim people, and launch an Islamization movement with a planned schedule now."

The National Education Ministry of Turkey and Ensar Foundation had signed a 5-year protocol regarding the organisation of seminars, educational and social activities by the Ensar Foundation in July 2017. The protocol has granted authorisation to the foundation to organise activities like seminars, projects, field trips, competitions, camps and summer schools. The Ministry of National Education officially began to work in cooperation with the Foundation regarding the organisation of activities.

A teacher working at Ensar Foundation, which provides children Islamic education, scholarships and accommodation across Turkey, had raped 45 children in 2016. Despite reactions from the public regarding the rising child abuse in Turkey, the government still backs and further promotes religious education and infamous institutions such as Ensar Foundation across the country.