The Student Oath or Student Pledge () is the oath that was recited in school at the beginning of every school day. It was used until 2013, among other things, in primary schools in Turkey. After the regular morning singing the national anthem ðstiklâl Marà Âñ before class, the oath was led by a student, or a group of 2âÂÂ5 students and repeated by all other students.
According to Afet ðnan's book, Reà Âit Galip who was the Minister of National Education at the time, composed the text of the "Student Oath" (or "Student Pledge", ) on April 23, 1933 (Children's Day) The Board of Education and Edification of the Ministry of National Education introduced this text as the "Student Oath", with the direction number 101 and dated May 10, 1933. In accordance with the direction of the Board of Education and Edification, the Ministry of National Education issued the circular number 1749/42 and dated May 18, 1933 about the "Student Pledge". Students must repeat the oath each day.
<blockquote> Türküm, doÃÂruyum, çalñà Âkanñm. Yasam; küçüklerimi korumak, büyüklerimi saymak, yurdumu, milletimi özümden çok sevmektir. ÃÂlküm; yükselmek, ileri gitmektir. VarlñÃÂñm Türk varlñÃÂñna armaÃÂan olsun. </blockquote> <blockquote> I am Turkish (a Turk), I am truthful, I am hardworking. My Law: is to protect my juniors, respect my elders, to love my country, my nation more than myself. My ideal; is to rise, to progress. Let my existence be a gift dedicated to Turkish existence. </blockquote>
Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) used the phrase "Ne mutlu Türküm diyene" (How happy is the one who says "I am a Turk") in his speech delivered for the 10th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, on October 29, 1933 (Republic Day)
In preparation for the August 30th 50th Anniversary of the battle against Greek forces at Dumlupñnar in 1922, the Student Oath was revised, and included as its last phrase "Ne mutlu Türküm diyene" (How happy is the one who says "I am a Turk") from the 1933 speech. The regulation to do this (article 78 for elementary schools) was published in the Resmî Gazete No. 14291 on August 29, 1972.
Turkish:
Türküm, doÃÂruyum, çalñà Âkanñm. Yasam, küçüklerimi korumak, büyüklerimi saymak, yurdumu, milletimi özümden çok sevmektir. ÃÂlküm yükselmek, ileri gitmektir. VarlñÃÂñm Türk varlñÃÂñna armaÃÂan olsun.
Ey bu günümüzü saÃÂlayan, Ulu Atatürk; açtñÃÂñn yolda, kurduÃÂun ülküde, gösterdiÃÂin amaçta hiç durmadan yürüyeceÃÂime ant içerim.
Ne mutlu Türküm diyene.
English:
I am Turkish, honest and hardworking. My principle is to protect the younger, to respect the elder, to love my homeland and my nation more than myself. My ideal is to rise, to progress. My existence shall be dedicated to the Turkish existence.
O Great Atatürk, who had created our life of today; on the path that you have paved, in the country that you established, I swear to walk incessantly with the purposes that you have set.
How happy is the one who says "I am Turkish."
Turkish:
Türküm, doÃÂruyum, çalñà Âkanñm. ðlkem, küçüklerimi korumak, büyüklerimi saymak, yurdumu, milletimi, özümden çok sevmektir. ÃÂlküm, yükselmek, ileri gitmektir.
Ey büyük Atatürk! AçtñÃÂñn yolda, gösterdiÃÂin hedefe durmadan yürüyeceÃÂime ant içerim.
VarlñÃÂñm Türk varlñÃÂñna armaÃÂan olsun. Ne mutlu Türküm diyene !
English :
I am Turkish, I am honest, I am hardworking. My principle is to protect my juniors, to respect my elders, to love my homeland and my nation more than myself. My ideal is to rise, to progress.
O Great Atatürk! I vow to walk ever upon the path you paved towards the aim you have set.
Let my existence be gifted to Turkish existence. How happy is the one who says "I am a Turk!".
On 8 September 2013, the Official Gazette announced that the practice of reciting the Student Oath was abolished.
This move was part of the controversial âÂÂDemocratization Packageâ introduced by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) which had anti-discriminatory policy changes to aid the peace process. Kurdish politicians criticized the changes as insufficient, while some viewed them, particularly the lifting of the ban on headscarves in parliament, as going against the nationalist and secular Constitution of Turkey.
However, many welcomed the repeal of the oath because it was seen as exclusionary to Turkey's minorities.
In October 2018, the Council of State, the highest administrative court, decided that the Student Oath had been a well-established practice and that the justification for removing it in 2013 by the AKP had been insufficient.
The decision came after legal action by Turkey's Education and Science Worker's Union (Türk EÃÂitim-Sen). Many opponents of the AKP considered banning the oath to be really against the secularist policies of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
When the ruling was announced, Türk EÃÂitim-Sen Chairperson Talip Geylan made a statement that the oath's focus on Turkish identity was not racist, saying the renewed use of the Student Oath would be a "reward" for patriotic schoolchildren.
On 4 March 2021, the high chamber of the Council of State agreed with the appeal demand from the Ministry of Education and abolished the recitation of the Student Oath again.
The decision restarted the controversy about the recitation. Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, criticized the decision and compared it to a pin-pulled bomb. Kemal KñlñçdaroÃÂlu and Meral Akà Âener, leaders of the Republican People's Party and Good Party, blamed Bahçeli for hypocrisy due to his support for the AKP government. Meanwhile, the President and the leader of the AKP, Recep Tayyip ErdoÃÂan, expressed his support for the decision implicitly and said, "National Anthem is our National Oath."