Turkey Introduces ‘Family’ Course in Schools to ‘Fight’ Homosexuality

Turkey’s National Education Minister Yusuf Tekin said in a TV interview on Monday that the authorities have a responsibility to “fight” homosexuality and that a new optional course called ‘The Family in Turkish Society’ has been added to the school curriculum.

“In our new curriculum, the family is a priority topic,” Tekin told 24 TV.

The optional course will be studied in the new school year that began in Turkey on Monday. The minister did not specify which ages of pupils could study the course.

“We want to raise a generation that can reflect the values and independence of this country to future generations. We are obliged to fight in our own way,” he said.

He also argued that universal human rights declarations should be re-evaluated and possibly amended because they protect LGBT rights.

“If you ask me, we need to look at this problem by discussing the basic human rights texts that we claim to be universal,” he said.

Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has been increasing pressure on LGBT groups and banning Pride events.

After his election victory in May, Erdogan gave signals that he might step up the pressure during his next five years in office.

“We will do what we promised our nation in the coming period. The family is sacred to us,” Erdogan said. He accused opposition parties of being pro-LGBT.

Islamist and conservative groups have announced that they will hold an anti-LGBT rally called ‘The Great Family Gathering Against Perversion’ on Sunday.

More than 200 NGOs will attend the rally in Istanbul, organisers said.

“We are against LGBT propaganda and the imposition [of homosexuality],” Serdar Eryilmaz, general secretary of the Great Family Platform, said in an interview on TVNet on Monday.