Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended a series of events in Erzurum on 24 December. Among these was a rally. According to the information received, a mobilization was announced to ensure participation from Erzurum, Kars and other surrounding provinces before the rally. A great effort was made to ensure participation in the rally by the AKP Provincial Organizations of the surrounding provinces, which organised buses.

While a mobilization was declared for participation in Erdoğan's rally, education and training were also disrupted. Classes held on weekends were suspended for teachers to attend the rally. In order for the participation to be high, Erzurum Provincial Directorate of National Education gave instructions to the District National Education Directorates saying that, "if necessary, the education will be interrupted, but the teachers will attend the rally."

Horasan District Director of National Education Selahattin Karakurt instructed school principals to "tell teachers to join the rally together" and thus the teachers' participation in the rally was compulsory. Teachers who provided information on the subject and were uncomfortable with this situation said that they were “forcibly taken to the rally. We had to take a break from our training and courses at the weekend. Children have been penalized in this situation.”