Turkey's ruling AKP under fire for regulations on Quran courses

Seventeen children were killed and twenty-seven others were injured when a dormitory belonging to an illegal Quran course collapsed in Turkey's central province of Konya last week.

Tayyar Altinkulac, former chairman of a commission of the ministry for education in parliament, and the former director of Religious Affairs, told Hurriyet that he had warned AKP officials against making a legal amendments that would reduce the penalty for illegal Quran courses. Â

"I felt immense compassion when I heard about the incident in Konya. I already knew there were unlicensed activities at that time. I warned my friends saying that such an amendment would trigger illegal activities and bring the situation to a point that cannot be blocked later. But they did not listen to me", he said.

The issue of Quran courses is particularly very sensitive in Turkey as many question whether such places go beyond their basic aims and teach students Sharia order instead of the fundamental principles of Islam and criticize the government for not running effective checks on them.

Turkish commentators welcomed that three people were arrested on Monday for alleged negligence in connection to the building collapse.

"Nobody is against the Quran courses. But Turkey, as a secular, democratic and law state, should gather such organizations under the umbrella of the Religious Affairs," Fatih Cekirge, editor-in-chief of hurriyet.com.tr wrote on Monday, adding that not everybody should be able to open a Quran course.

Some commentators criticized Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's previous remarks. "You cannot question whether a Quran course is illegal or not. The Quran is learned. Nobody can associate learning the Quran with committing a crime," Erdogan has said.

The authorization to open and close Quran courses belongs to the Department of Religious Affairs in Turkey. There are 7,036 Quran courses opened by the Religious Affairs around the country.

However illegal Quran courses are being opened under the guise of student dormitories and these courses cannot be inspected as the Ministry for Education is responsible for issues related to student dormitories according to Turkish law.