Education Ministry to destroy textbooks written by Gülenists

ANKARA

REUTERS photo

Turkey’s Education Ministry will destroy textbooks written by the followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, believed to have been behind the July 15 failed coup attempt. The textbooks will be recycled, according to daily Milliyet.

The books had been prepared before the failed seizure of government in July. Thousands of people were dismissed from public service after the coup plot with a state of emergency decree, including the writers of 58 textbooks that were going to be distributed to schools by the ministry. 

The ministry examined the books upon recent developments and decided to rewrite the ones written by Gülenists with new writers. 

All of the books written by the people who were dismissed will be destroyed and sent to be recycled.

Some 250 million books, the contents of which were re-examined by the ministry, will be made ready by Sept. 19, the day schools will open. 

The ministry distributed a total of 236,268,325 textbooks without charge and spent some 394,699 Turkish Liras on them.