National security courses take militarist ideology to schools

A high-ranking uniformed officer comes to class for one hour a week, gives a soldier's salute to the students -- who are already standing at attention as it is a commander coming -- and gives lectures on the internal and external threats that Turkey has faced. This image is from a “national security class,” which has been a compulsory course for every high school student in Turkey since 1926. However, observers say the course, which they think works to breed an ideology of militarism in the public by indoctrinating them with the belief that there is a continuous threat against the country, does not comply with either human rights or the principles of education.

Turkey reviewed its schoolbooks two years ago and tried to eliminate content deemed to be discriminatory, but a recent report titled “Human Rights in Schoolbooks,” the result of a collaborative effort between the History Foundation and the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) involving a survey of 139 textbooks, found that the books still contain many militarist, nationalist, racist and gender-biased sections. Only 11 percent of the books were found to be unproblematic. The national security course, the aim of which is “to strengthen the national security consciousness, which naturally exists in all Turkish youth, in accordance with demands of war to honor and protect the Turkish Republic against all kinds of attacks under all circumstances” as it is officially defined, was found to be among the most problematic elements in the Turkish school curriculum. A report prepared at the end of this study underlines that basing national identity on “a perception of an everlasting threat against the country” and making clear-cut distinctions when defining “outsiders” seriously harms the culture of peace in the country that some are attempting to improve.

Threat-oriented content

Referring to the study, Professor Ahmet İnsel from the İstanbul-based Galatasaray University says that in addition to the militaristic mentality that is present in the Turkish school curriculum, Turkey is among only a few countries in the world which makes a national security courses compulsory for students. “We see that students are indoctrinated with the idea that Turkey faces an everlasting threat,” he said in a recent interview with the Star daily. In that way, he says, the perceptions about the country's national security among civilians are similar to the military's perceptions.

“Regardless of the content of the course, the existence of such a course contradicts human rights. Its name itself is an obvious way of propagating militarism,” Rıdvan Kaya, the head of the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), told Sunday's Zaman. Stating that the concept of “security” itself is controversial in Turkey, he says this term is sometimes used as a means of accusing some segments of society of posing a threat to national security. He also underlines that although there are many traces of militarist discourse in the Turkish school curriculum, the national security course is the most concrete form of militaristic propaganda. Drawing attention to the fact that these courses are given by uniformed officers, Kaya says in this way a military barracks atmosphere is created in schools. “The so-called threat of reactionaryism, internal enemies and external enemies constitute the content [of the course]. The course contradicts human rights with its name, its content and the way it is taught,” he adds.

From a pedagogical perspective

Apart from the criticism made on the grounds that the course goes against human rights, there are also those who find the way that national security courses are taught to be pedagogically inappropriate. “The fact that these courses are taught by officers in uniform who have not received a pedagogical education does not comply with principles of education,” Education Personnel Labor Union (Eğitim Bir-Sen) Secretary-General Halil Etyemez told Sunday's Zaman. “The existence of an officer in the classroom by nature leads to psychological pressure on students because of his status. A commander is not like a teacher for students. In this atmosphere of fear, you cannot ask questions, do research or think objectively, all of which are required for learning,” he notes.

Avoiding making comments on the criticism of the course, an official from the Education Ministry -- preferring to remain anonymous -- told Sunday's Zaman that the ministry is not authorized to decide whether national security courses comply with pedagogical principles or not. “Officers have been teaching these lessons for decades. This is not something new. This decision is beyond the authority of the Education Ministry,” he said. The official also said that the ministry's Training and Education Board is authorized to prepare course curricula, but it consults other state institutions about some courses. “This is also the case for the national security course. The board prepares the curriculum in accordance with the ‘national security policies' of the General Staff. The board can rearrange the curriculum if the General Staff finds it necessary,” he said, implying that the course curriculum has to be approved by the General Staff. The official did not want to comment further on the question of whether the General Staff has more say than the Education Ministry in determining the content of the national security course.