Education and Science Workers' Union (Turkey)
| Full name | Education and Science Workers' Union |
|---|---|
| Native name | Eğitim ve Bilim Emekçileri Sendikası |
| Founded | January 23, 1995 |
| Members | 200,000 (2005) |
| Affiliation | KESK |
| Office location | Ankara |
| Country | Turkey |
| Website | www |
Education and Science Workers' Union (Turkish: Eğitim ve Bilim Emekçileri Sendikası), better known with its abbreviation Eğitim-Sen, is a left-wing trade union of teachers and other education workers in Turkey. In 2005 it had around 200,000 members and was Turkey's largest trade union.
It was founded on January 23, 1995 as a merger of Eğit-Sen and Eğitim-İş both founded in 1990. It is a member of KESK (Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions, Education International the International Trade Union Confederation.
In 2004 an attempt was initiated to shut down the organization by Attorney General of Ankara on the grounds that its statute contained the statement "...the defence [of the right] of individuals to receive education in their mother tongue", which was claimed to be against the Article 42 of the Constitution of Turkey which says that "No other language than Turkish may be taught in educational and teaching facilities to Turkish citizens as their mother tongue". The closure was demanded because Eğitim Sen refused to remove the phrase in question from its statute during the series of reforms associated with the aspiration of Turkey towards joining the European Union.
After a long and controversial litigation Eğitim Sen was closed by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Appeal on May 25, 2005. To avoid the closure, Eğitim Sen later revoked the clause in question from its statute.
In 2008 however, a complaint by Adnan Oktar did lead to the banning of the organisation's website. This was a reaction to a press-release about Adnan Oktar’s Atlas of Creation, which was sent to schools free of charge.
...
Wikipedia