Above the blackboard in every classroom at the Hasan-Ali Yucel high school there is a poster of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey, alongside the words of the national anthem and a statement by the former leader addressed to the nation's children. There are pictures of him on the corridor walls and his bust greets visitors at the door.

So when a British member of the European Parliament was reported this week to have said that Turkey should abandon its cult of Atatürk before it joins the European Union, it generated a heated response among Turks, including youngsters such as the 526 pupils who attend this school in the fast-developing Ankara suburb of Balgat.