On March 20, 2012, the Ministry of National Education Regulation on Private Educational Institutions was published in the Official Gazette. The regulation included the following provision: “Foreign-national guest students may also receive education at schools, taking into consideration the institution’s enrollment quota; however, diplomas can not be issued to these students. Those leaving the school shall be given a document prepared by the school administration indicating the courses they attended and the grades they received.”
Armenian schools have been accepting students from Armenia for approximately 14 years, taking this provision into account. However, diplomas cannot be issued to these students. According to information we have obtained, inspectors from the Ministry of National Education began conducting inspections at Armenian schools last week. As part of these inspections, the schools were informed that Armenian schools will no longer be able to accept guest students and that only students from the Armenian community of Turkey could receive education there. It is reported that the inspectors arrived for the inspections with lists containing the names of students from Armenia, asked about the fate of guest students who had received education in previous years, and raised the demand that the students’ current registrations, if there is any, be transferred to state schools. It has been learned that the inspections are not limited to Armenian schools and that Greek and Jewish schools are also within their scope.
Armenian schools, which have not faced a problem of this nature regarding the education of students from Armenia for many years, are now waiting for the matter to be resolved. A meeting involving foundation and school administrators is expected to be held in the coming days to discuss the issue. It has also been learned that Patriarch Maşalyan is aware of the matter.
MAZLUMDER: Going back 14 years is a disappointment
The Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (MAZLUMDER) is working on violations concerning the right to education of students from Armenia. Speaking to Agos, the association said that they were trying to meet with civil society organizations, educational institutions, authorities, and affected families, adding: “Our main point of focus when addressing this issue was that students who had attended Armenian minority schools could not receive diplomas and could not pass on to high school. However, at least they had the opportunity to attend school, even if only as guest students, and then continue their high school education in Armenia. With the latest development, we now face the danger of this opportunity being taken away from these children as well.”
The association’s statement included the following:
“The ability of children who are citizens of Armenia to receive education as guest students became possible with an amendment made to the Regulation on Private Educational Institutions in 2012. In fact, this situation constituted an interim formula for addressing the existing problem. Although grievance continued from that time onward, the situation had been managed to some extent through various palliative solutions. Now, when our and Turkish-Armenian community’s expectation is the definite solution of this problem, regression to the situation 14 years ago would be a great disappointment. For authorities to say ‘actually it does not cover your school’ is incompatible with the principle of the rule of law after so many years during which that regulation has been recognized as a solution to this problem and applied in this manner."
“It must be resolved without allowing grievances to arise”
The statement also issued a call to the authorities: “As is known, the right to education is a universal and non-strippable right, regardless of a child’s nationality, legal status, or the immigration status of their family. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Turkey is also a party, explicitly guarantees this right. Therefore, we consider the interruption of the educational process of children who are citizens of Armenia on bureaucratic grounds to be a clear violation of human rights. If the interim formula that has been applied for more than 10 years and has not provided a solution to the problem, it is to be abandoned, what needs to be done is to resolve this problem without allowing any grievances to arise. Our call to the authorities is therefore to make the necessary legal arrangements. The Ministry should work to facilitate every child's right to access education in Turkey. We believe that this problem, whose resolution has been postponed for years, must be resolved with due regard for the best interests of the child and the principles of fundamental human rights.”
The fact that students from Armenia have been receiving education at Armenian schools for 14 years also provides an opportunity for dialogue between Armenians from Turkey and students from Armenia. It is noteworthy that the inspections and the aforementioned orders conveyed to the schools are taking place while the Turkey-Armenia normalization process is going on. In addition to students from Armenia, guest students attending all minority schools had been continuing their education without problems, while the fact that they could not receive diplomas was also a subject of criticism. It is a matter of curiosity why this step has been taken at this particular stage.
