LETTER FROM ISTANBUL
Worried parents who speak only in whispers, mute school principals, two Foreign Ministries in Germany and France who prefer to remain silent, for fear of further angering Ankara: since the brutal decision, announced in mid-summer, by the Turkish Minister of National Education, Yusuf Tekin, to ban any new enrolment of Turkish or binational students in the two French schools and in the three German establishments in the country, the foreign teaching community and its supervision give, on the eve of the opening of classes, a disturbing feeling of malaise and collective helplessness.
The object of Turkish anger? The requirement of “reciprocity” Ankara has been reiterating this for years, calling for the opening of Turkish law schools on French and German soil, such as these five French and German schools in Turkey. A thorny issue that has continued to poison relations between the capitals and which Paris and Berlin have refused to address until now.
At the beginning of the year, rumours spread by the Turkish press spoke of the authorities’ intention to simply close access to these schools to students of Turkish nationality. It should be noted that the French Charles-de-Gaulle high schools in Ankara and Pierre-Loti high schools in Istanbul do not exist under Turkish law. These private schools, initially open to children of diplomats, are in fact subject to French law. However, these establishments, which have around 2,400 students, now mainly welcome Turkish and dual-national students in secondary and high school, like German schools.
“Gateway to Erdogan’s ideologies”
Following a meeting with the Turkish minister, the French embassy sent a draft administrative agreement in the spring. Meetings and consultations were organised at academic and ministerial level. Then, at the beginning of July, the tone suddenly rose. “The Turkish side has presented us with a draft agreement that goes beyond the proposals mentioned so far”The French embassy said in a letter later sent to the parents of the students. It follows a “verbal note” from the Turkish authorities, presented in the form of an ultimatum.
A telling indicator of the continuing deterioration of bilateral relations are the public reproaches of Minister Yusuf Tekin. On July 13, in an interview with the official newspaper Haberturkdenounces the“arrogance” from France before losing his temper: “We are not like the countries you colonized. We are a sovereign state. If you want to teach here, you must act on our terms.”
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