Will Non-Status Armenian Children Finally Be Able to Attend School in Turkey?

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered the Ministry of Education to solve the problems related to school attendance that the children of Amenians living illegally in Turkey face in the country, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told Turkish daily Hürriyet.

Head of the Religious Council of the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, Archbishop Aram Ateshian also confirmed it while talking to Hürriyet.

“Apart from speaking on issues relating to our community in a meeting with Arınç last week, we spoke also about the school attendance of the children of non-status Armenians. We said that due to the status of their families those children are deprived of their right to attend school. Mr. Arınç was very interested in the issue and said he would do his best to solve it,” said Archbishop Aram Ateshian.

Bülent Arınç also commented on the situation: “Ethnic minorities have their own schools in Turkey. But those schools are attended by either Turkish citizens or the children of parents with Turkish roots. Not only Mr. Ateshian, but also representatives of other religious minorities say that the children of non-Muslim people, who are in Turkey for some reason or another, are not accepted into these schools. They can attend our schools. From a human viewpoint, I consider that as being very positive.”

Arınç also mentioned he had raised the issue at the Council of Ministers. In his words, the prime minister has welcomed the idea and has already made orders to the Ministry of Education.