ISIL spreads ideology in Istanbul school, prosecutors allege

ISTANBUL

Prosecutors investigating a group of suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have alleged that a school has been founded in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli district to disseminate ISIL’s jihadist ideology to school-age children, daily Vatan has reported Feb. 10.The prosecutors suspect that the group founded a school through which they convey ISIL’s ideology to young children, as they found disks containing the notes of classes that are taught to students of the school.According to the evidence, the notes state that those who celebrate Turkish national holidays like National Sovereignty and Children’s Day (April 23), Youth and Sports Day (May 19), Republic Day (Oct. 29), and Victory Day (Aug. 30) are “infidels.” They also state that the principles and reforms of Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as well as the country’s courts, military, and political parties, should all be rejected.The file also includes pictures of students holding Kalashnikovs in front of what appears to be a flag of ISIL.The probe is investigating 35 suspects, including one arrested man who was spotted in footage carrying out reconnaissance in front of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara and at other public institutions in Istanbul.In the indictment, the prosecutor demands aggravated life sentences for six of the suspects, including the man who carried out the reconnaissance, on charges of “attempting to remove the constitutional order.” Up to 15 years in jail was also demanded for all of the suspects for “being a member of a terrorist organization.”Turkey in 2016 was hit by a string of attacks blamed on ISIL and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which left hundreds dead.Most recently, 39 people were killed in the earlier hours of the new year when a gunman went on a rampage inside the Istanbul nightclub Reina.ISIL claimed responsibility for the massacre, making it the first time it had claimed responsibility for an attack on Turkish soil since its first large-scale attack on June 5, 2015.