17.06.2026 14:40
Teachers who are awaiting assignment and claim to be victims of unfair interviews wanted to hold a press conference in front of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. During the police intervention, the teachers were detained with reverse handcuffs and forced to the ground. However, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli had expressed support for the teachers in a statement the day before, saying, "We stand with them."
Teachers awaiting appointments and reacting to interview results faced a harsh intervention in Ankara while seeking their rights. Security forces intervened as educators attempted to hold a press conference in front of the Turkish Grand National Assembly to make their voices heard. In the ensuing scuffle, 14 teachers were taken into custody, forced to the ground and handcuffed with reverse handcuffs.
BAHÇELİ HAD SAID "WE ARE WITH YOU"
Just before this tense period of arrests, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, responding to press questions after yesterday's party group meeting, had given a striking message of support regarding the teachers' situation. Referring to educators awaiting appointments and fighting for rights, Bahçeli used the statement, "We are with them as well."
WHAT ARE TEACHERS DEMANDING?
Educators united under the Private Sector Teachers' Union and various teacher platforms are drawing attention to long-unresolved structural issues. The main demands of teachers are listed as follows:
- Base Salary Practice: Reintroduction of base salary security for teachers forced to minimum wage or very low wages in private educational institutions,
- Personal Rights: Closing the rights gap between the public and private sectors and strengthening personal rights,
- Job Security: Providing permanent job security instead of insecure and short-term contracts,
- Interview Problem: Abolition of the interview system, which is argued to undermine merit in appointments.
In recent weeks, teachers have turned Ankara into a protest zone to make their voices heard by politicians and the public. Unions holding vigils and making statements in front of the Ministry of National Education (MEB) and at various points in the city emphasize that protests will continue resolutely if promises made to them are not kept.