Turkey: Teacher who claims to be Jesus suspended

ANTALYA, Turkey

A teacher in Turkey’s Mediterranean was suspended on Monday after he told his student that he is Jesus.

School officials took the action after hearing that the teacher, who is Turkish but taught English, told sixth-grade students that he is Jesus and knows when Judgement Day will come, said Haluk Simsek, a local official in the town of Serik, in the Antalya province.

Halil Koca, a local official who has children attending the school, told Anadolu Agency that the subjects the teachers discussed were inappropriate for 11-year-olds.

The teacher is setting a bad example, he added.

In Islam -- the faith of most of Turkey’s population -- Jesus is seen as a prophet, rather than the savior.

* Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic