Another one of the AKP’s so called “plays” where children are used for nationalist and religious propaganda has been staged in Switzerland with direct support from the Embassy.

In footage published by prominent Swiss newspaper Blick, children can be seen in barbaric scenes of war in Uttwill in the Thurgau Canton.

6 YEAR OLD CHILDREN KILL EACH OTHER IN THE “PLAY”

According to the newspaper, a Turkish family association organized a “drama night” in a theater in St. Gallen on March 25. A Turkish school named Romanshorn used 6 year olds in the play where the children reenact scenes from wars.

The children were supposedly reenacting a scene from the Çanakkale War in the play sponsored by the Turkish Embassy in Bern, wrote Blick and stated that there were diplomatic guests from Ankara in the first rows. Hundreds of adults were recording the racist propaganda that used children on their phones.

FORCING WAR GAMES ON CHILDREN IN “HOMELAND CULTURE AND LANGUAGE” CLASS

Blick also pointed out that the children used for Erdoğan’s nationalist propaganda were doing the play supposedly for a “class”.

The play was organized for the class “Homeland Culture and Language”. The article includes that state officials are silent despite such violent propaganda taking place in Switzerland, and says the class is given in line with the curriculum and teachers sent by Ankara.

The paper interviewed the public education officer of the St Gallen canton Alexander Kummer who said they were not aware of the barbaric play by the AKP, but added that the “Homeland Culture and Language” (HSK in German) is normally taught in addition to language classes.

TURKISH OFFICIALS AGREE “IT WENT TOO FAR” BUT DEFEND THE PLAY

Blick pointed out that the Bern Embassy didn’t answer the questions posed by the newspaper, and added that only response came from Nazım Nacalkan, who coordinates the HSK classes in the embassy’s name.

Nacalkan agreed that “it went a bit too far”, but still argued that the children were “just reenacting a historic event”.

The Blick reporter mentioned that over 100.00 people died in the Çanakkale War, the historic event in question.

Turkey expert Ismail Kupeli spoke to Blick and pointed out that children were chosen deliberately for these types of nationalist propaganda: “They want to ideologically indoctrinate even the children and get them in line.”

IDTV ORGANIZED SIMILAR PLAYS IN MANY CANTONS

Such plays are sponsored directly by the embassy for the Turkish school’s AKP propaganda, and children are used in these plays staged in many other cantons.

According to Blick, the Switzerland Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation (IDTV) staged a similar play on March 18. The IDTV had also used children in another event organized in Biberist in the Solothurn canton.

PARALLELS BETWEEN THE WAR AND ANTI-KURDISH SENTIMENT

The paper’s article harshly criticized the Swiss education system being used for plays staged by AKP propagandists, and pointed out that despite the historic content of the play, there were parallels drawn between the war and current events/anti-Kurdish sentiment in Kurdistan and the invasion of Afrin.

EDUCATION AUTHORITIES MUST TAKE ACTION

Integration expert from the Basel canton Thomas Kessler stated that Erdoğan is capable of anything for his propaganda. Kessler said Erdoğan is not interested in the people from Turkey’s integration in Swtizerland and added: “On the contrary, the only thing he wants is a nationalist and fundamentalist mobilization.”

Kessler also stated that the HSK (Homeland Culture and Language) classes offered by Swiss cantons for students with foreign origins are normally aimed at “building bridges”, but the current situation is the exact opposite. Kessler said: “These classes are creating parallel societies. History classes are turned into propaganda.” Kessler called on Swiss education authorities to take action.

Most recently, it had come to light that DİTİB (under the Religious Affairs Directorate in Turkey) had organized children’s plays in Germany and Austria where the children actually played war games under the guise of drama. DİTİB is on the public agenda in both countries for espionage activity, while the nationalist-fundamentalist propaganda in Switzerland is known to take different forms in other countries.