Police patrol Lucerna schools on first day to head off tensions
The first day of school yesterday saw police patrolling the areas of Flanders’ Turkish schools, while a scuffle over headscarves and language flared up in Limburg
‘Pure racism’
Several of the schools, which have been linked to Fethullah Gulen – accused by the Erdogan government to be behind the coup attempt – had agents at the school gate as the new academic year started. Police were seen patrolling past some schools during the day.
In related news, police responded to a situation at De Piramide primary school in Leopoldsburg, Limburg, when a man yelled at a group of women to “go back to Turkey” if they couldn’t speak Dutch.
One of the women was dropping off her six-year old son and speaking Turkish with her neighbour and her neighbour’s sister. The man also yelled that they shouldn’t be wearing headscarves and pushed the sister, who is disabled, to the floor.
“We speak perfect Dutch,” the mother explained to Radio 2, “But my neighbour’s sister lives in Liège and so speaks French. We don’t speak French, so we were speaking Turkish to each other.”
“It was pure racism,” said school director Elly Huysmans. “There is a large Turkish community here, and we have put a lot of energy for years into issues of tolerance.” The man has been banned from the school’s property.
