Turkish Education Ministry to collect 518 textbooks to ‘avoid Gülen propaganda’

ANKARA

Turkish Education Ministry has decided to collect and revise 518 different textbooks in order to clear traces of Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) propaganda and “controversial content,” daily Cumhuriyet reported on Oct. 23.

The ministry’s campaign, expected to last until 2019, stems from remarks made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a 2017-2018 academic year opening ceremony last month, when the president said that measures would be taken to address the high number of complaints regarding the content of the books, Cumhuriyet said.

Discussions on the books considered to have content related to FETÖ have recently been on Turkey’s agenda.

A seventh graders’ textbook for the religious culture and moral knowledge class has received especial criticism. The book contains a quote from the former deputy rector of Hitit University in the Central Anatolian province of Çorum, Osman Eğri - a fugitive currently standing trial over alleged links to the Gülen network.

Another text in the social studies class textbook for sixth graders has also drawn reaction for its praise of the “Interfaith Dialogue” project, a long-term work undertaken by FETÖ.

Erdoğan bringing up the issue on Sept. 26 prompted the Education Ministry to take action, Cumhuriyet said.