'Kill potentially harmful kids before they can walk,' Turkish principal says

Hurriyet.com.tr

Mustafa Aydın. DHA photo

A Turkish school principal has suggested that all newborns should be genetically scanned and that those who could prove harmful to the country should be “eliminated.” 
 
"Children should be analyzed immediately after birth. If they are to become harmful to this country, to this nation, then they should be eliminated before they can walk," Dumlupınar Elementary School Principal Mustafa Aydın said yesterday during a meeting organized by the police department in the eastern province of Erzurum. The meeting's topic was violence among children and ways to prevent it. 
 
Aydın was among the audience and asked to express his opinion after a speaker completed her speech.
 
Aydın proposed the collection of blood samples from criminals at police stations and the use of their genetic codes as templates to compare with those belonging to newborns.  
 
Aydın said children could become only as good as their families. "Most children in my neighborhood are thieves," he said. "I walked in the streets around my home, children are sitting around in condemned buildings ... keeping stray dogs as pets. I asked authorities to demolish those buildings but they did not."
 
Aydın also said authorities in Argentina and Brazil were discussing what kind of violence to exact on children. 
 
"An organization was founded in Brazil to eliminate street children years ago. I am not making this up," Aydın said, adding that 90 percent of children with violent backgrounds came from families living under social care. 
 
The principal's views drew a swift reaction from other speakers at the conference.
 
The Education Ministry removed Aydın from duty today and launched an investigation into the incident.