KNOW BETTER WITH MESOP : Owner of Kurdish School Protests Closure By Turkish Authorities

2016-07-24 – (Reuters) — Police shut down a private Kurdish school in the southeast province of Diyarbakir on Saturday (July 23) as Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on Turkey.

Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions in his first decree since imposing a state of emergency after the failed military coup in which at least 246 people were killedThe schools and other institutions are suspected by Turkish authorities of having links to U.S. – based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has many followers in Turkey, though he denies any involvement in the coup attempt.Owner of the school, Sabahattin Korkmaz, denied having links with Gulenist movement and said the shut-down was anti-democratic.He also accused the government of trying to assimilate the Kurdish minority. Critics of Erdogan fear he is using the abortive coup to wage an indiscriminate crackdown on dissent. www.mesop.de