Free Republic

Turkey has long enshrined the secular ideals of founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, particularly in an education system that until recently banned Islamic headscarves in schools and made schoolchildren begin the day reciting an oath of allegiance to Ataturk's legacy. Now proponents of Turkey's secular traditions claim President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is taking a new path, building a more Islam-focused education system to realize his stated goal of raising "pious generations."

Those concerned about state surveillance and intervention should direct their sights less to CIA bunkers, than to Edinburgh, and specifically to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act. This act – one of the most significant of the past decade – will mean the state appointment of a ‘named person’ for every child, from birth to the age of 18. These have been dubbed ‘state guardians’, which is not a bad description of their role. They are not practicing a particular profession or service, such as education or healthcare, but instead will have a general interest in the ‘wellbeing’ of...

Mystery surrounds official Chinese reports Wednesday of a violent clash between “suspected terrorists” and the authorities in the restive Muslim province of Xinjiang yesterday that left 21 people dead, including 15 officials. According to a statement on the provincial government website, a group “planning to conduct violent terrorist activities” armed with knives seized three local officials who had surprised them in a house near the city of Kashgar