18.02.2026 16:47
At an elementary school in Şanlıurfa, the children sang along to the hymn "Ey Sevgili" at their request. The footage of that moment, which went viral on social media, brought various comments as well.
At Şanlıurfa Ibn Sina Primary School, the hymn "Oh Beloved" was played at the request of the students. The little students in the schoolyard also joined in singing the hymn together. Images from those moments were shared on social media in a short time.
SOCIAL MEDIA WAS DIVIDED
After the spread of the images, different comments were made on social media. One group thanked the Minister of National Education, Yusuf Tekin, who is known to have sent a circular to schools due to the month of Ramadan; while another group criticized the practice, drawing attention to the quality of education.
MINISTER TEKIN RESPONDS TO CRITICISMS
On the other hand, Minister Tekin also made statements regarding the Ramadan circular sent to schools, saying, "I invite the opposition to learn to read and write first. I think ignorance is a contagious disease... There is a group that thinks making criticism by reading minds without reading or understanding is politics. I am open to explaining one by one what secularism means, how it should be understood, based on both international examples and examples from Turkey. What they define is an imposition. Secularism is not like that. This is one. There is not a single expression in our text or in the list of example activities we sent to schools that is contrary to the constitution. Presenting it this way, as I said, has no explanation other than ignorance."