“Will Universities Turn into Mosque-Centered Institutions?”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Engin Özkoç submitted a parliamentarian inquiry on the relation between mosques and universities in Turkey after statements released by President Erdoğan and Director of Religious Affairs. 

“Would it say ‘külliye’ [a term to describe facilities adjacent to a mosque] instead of campus?” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during an opening of a university in Ankara. 

He also reminded Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Chief Mehmet Görmez’s statement that every university will house a mosque. 

Saying that Erdoğan’s statement could be related to the “great reforms in education”, Özkoç requested Education Minister Nabi Avcı to respond the following questions:

* Is there a project to turn the academic life of universities into a mosque-centered institutions? 

* How many among Turkey’s 176 universities have mosques? And how many with ongoing construction? According to the plans, when will mosque construction finish in all universities? 

* How will a university education system centered around mosque affect the universal values of academia? 

* Is Turkey willing to create a different environment than the global university system? (BK/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.