TURKISH EDUCATION MINISTRY DEFENDS A TEXT BOOK THAT INCLUDES SLURS ABOUT ARMENIANS
ARMRADIO.AM
28.06.2012 14:45
The Ministry of Education of Turkey has defended a school text book
that includes slurs about Armenians as well as a number of Turkish
writers, saying the book was "written with the sense of national
reflex and humorous criticism," the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Penned by Yunus Zeyrek, the book, titled "Bu Dosyayı Kaldırıyorum:
Ermeni Meselesi" ("Closing this File: The Armenian Issue") defines
Armenians as "dishonorable and treacherous" and vilifies novelists
such as Nobel Prize Laureate Orhan Pamuk and writer Elif Şafak.
History and literature teachers distributed the books to students of
their own volition after receiving them.
Education Minister Omer Dincer responded a parliamentary question
proposed by Kadir Gokmen Oğut of the opposition Republican People's
Party (CHP) about the book, saying "the examples in the book were
written with the sense of national reflex and humorous criticism,"
the Daily News Reports, citing daily Taraf.
Oğut asked whether the ministry had approved the handing out of the
book and also whether the content of the book could be considered as
being a form of hate crime. In his response, Dincer said the Ministry
of Education had never recommended the book. "The Governorship of
Istanbul stated that some of the books were presented to students by
the District Governor of Kartal and that nobody was targeted in any
chapter of the book."
Dincer had earlier announced that the ministry had launched a probe
against a controversial book distributed by the education directorate
among high schools in Istanbul's Kartal district
ARMRADIO.AM
28.06.2012 14:45
The Ministry of Education of Turkey has defended a school text book
that includes slurs about Armenians as well as a number of Turkish
writers, saying the book was "written with the sense of national
reflex and humorous criticism," the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Penned by Yunus Zeyrek, the book, titled "Bu Dosyayı Kaldırıyorum:
Ermeni Meselesi" ("Closing this File: The Armenian Issue") defines
Armenians as "dishonorable and treacherous" and vilifies novelists
such as Nobel Prize Laureate Orhan Pamuk and writer Elif Şafak.
History and literature teachers distributed the books to students of
their own volition after receiving them.
Education Minister Omer Dincer responded a parliamentary question
proposed by Kadir Gokmen Oğut of the opposition Republican People's
Party (CHP) about the book, saying "the examples in the book were
written with the sense of national reflex and humorous criticism,"
the Daily News Reports, citing daily Taraf.
Oğut asked whether the ministry had approved the handing out of the
book and also whether the content of the book could be considered as
being a form of hate crime. In his response, Dincer said the Ministry
of Education had never recommended the book. "The Governorship of
Istanbul stated that some of the books were presented to students by
the District Governor of Kartal and that nobody was targeted in any
chapter of the book."
Dincer had earlier announced that the ministry had launched a probe
against a controversial book distributed by the education directorate
among high schools in Istanbul's Kartal district