President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has admitted that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has failed to do well in the fields of education and the arts in the 14 years it has been in power.
Speaking at a Culture and Tourism Ministry awards ceremony on Thursday, Erdoğan said there are shortcomings in the fields of education and the arts and that there is a need to give priority to them.
“I am extremely sad due to our failure to reach the level I dream of in these fields. This is self-criticism, but it’s true,” he said.
The AKP government has made frequent changes to the education system in Turkey, which attracted strong criticism from teachers and parents as well as students. It is also criticized for politicizing the education system in line with its own ideology.