Alevis angry at discriminatory university text book

ESKİŞEHİR

The grammar book included expressions that talked about the 'ill ceremonies' practiced by Alevis. DHA Photo

Alevis in Turkey have reacted angrily toward a university text book, which includes humiliating and discriminative expressions about their customs and beliefs.

H.K., a student at Anadolu University’s Turkish Language and Literature department in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, complained about the discriminatory expressions used toward Alevis in an Ottoman Turkish text book, daily Cumhuriyet reported.

The grammar book included expressions that talked about the “ill ceremonies” practiced by Alevis, as well as other offensive expressions and phrases.  

The university had apologized upon hearing the students’ complaints, but failed in removing the same offensive sections from the new editions.

Ali Yıldırım, a lawyer who is also a deputy leader at ABF, an Alevi-Bektaşi nongovernmental organization, said such hate speech by a member of the academic community is inexcusable.