Yusuf Tekin, the Minister of National Education of the Republic of Turkey, stood at the podium of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and openly declared his disregard for secularism.

"The old Turkey you lived in is over. Say goodbye. Wake up, wake up! Turkey is now a completely different country," he said, adding, "Look, as of 2023, the Ministry of National Education (MEB) has 2,709 valid protocols. Among these, there are only about 10 protocols with structures you call sects and communities, which we refer to as NGOs. We will continue to make protocols with them."

The words uttered by Minister Tekin in the Assembly are contrary to Article 2 of the Constitution, the 1924 Law of Unification of Education (a Revolutionary Law), and the National Education Law No. 1739!

Moreover, his defense of making protocols with sects and communities, saying, "You are frustrated because these NGOs, with whom we make protocols, prevent children from joining armed groups in the mountains. To prevent my children from joining these groups and to stop raising individuals for your human resources, I will continue with doing it" this is a dangerous distortion with potentially severe consequences.

Is Yusuf Tekin implying, "Those who receive secular education join armed groups in the mountains"? He speaks as if this country never experienced the July 15, 2016, FETÖ coup attempt, the Sivas, Çorum, and Maraş massacres. None of these massacres happened because of secular education; they happened because secularism was violated!

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The reason for the open challenge to secularism by political Islamists in the 100th year of the Republic is not only the ruling AKP, which has been governing the country for the last 21 years...

It's also due to those who failed to defend secularism as it should be while children were being handed over to religious orders...

Those who supported Erdoğan's notion of "liberal secularism" to get votes from the religious segment...

Those who moved with the AKP in anti-secular arrangements such as the Diyanet Academy and adjusting working hours for Friday prayers...

Those who rubbed their hands with glee when a sect declared its support for their parties before elections...

The so-called opposition did not react when their own MPs said, "The law abolishing sects has become obsolete," and still selected them for the party council...

And the journalists and so-called intellectuals who never criticize the opposition while all this is happening!

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For those who claim sects are NGOs, I want to repeat these lines from my article titled "Religious Orders and Communities are a Human Rights Issue!" written on October 13, 2020, in this column:

The definition of an NGO is legally clear. NGOs are non-profit organizations formed by people independently of official institutions for political, social, legal, and cultural purposes. NGOs sustain themselves through voluntary work and regular dues paid by their members. Foundations, associations, unions, and professional organizations constitute NGOs. The financial structures of NGOs are audited by the state. An NGO that does not hold a general assembly to form its governing bodies according to regulations, and where members do not have the right to vote, does not exist.

In sects and communities, there is neither election nor democracy nor freedom. In these unquestioned structures, disciples only pledge allegiance to their sheiks! These structures exploit beliefs to destroy free thought and enslave people. Defending them in the name of freedom is an utter oxymoron!

Sects and communities, which have grown into massive sizes through their front companies and have infiltrated state ranks due to the power they have obtained, are seen as vote banks by political parties. Therefore, although they are illegal, no one touches them; leaders visit these reactionary sheiks and leaders before elections for vote bargaining.

The sects and communities, which were closed down by Law No. 677 in 1925, are against the secular Republic!