Investigation launched into school over ‘veiling party’ in Turkey’s Şanlıurfa

Gülseven Özkan – ŞANLIURFA

Education authorities in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa’s Bozova district have launched an investigation into the management of a middle school and a teacher after reports that the teacher made girls attending the class wear headscarves.

The authorities’ move came after photographs showing the girls wearing headscarves and holding placards encouraging veiling emerged on social media on Dec. 29.

The placards the female students were holding said: “I have veiled myself,” “Luckily I have veiled myself,” “Come on, you too veil yourself,” “From now on, I am veiled,” and “Thank God I am veiled.”

The school management told daily Hürriyet they were not aware of such an event, which they referred to as a “veiling party” that was organized in the school.

“We cannot supervise all of the teachers at the same time… We have talked with the teacher that organized this event over the phone, she told us about the incident and said the demand for the event came from the students themselves,” the school management said.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) took the issue to the parliament’s agenda, saying the photographs shared by the teacher on social media exposed the heavy abuse children were facing.