Turkish intellectuals condemn anti-Armenian statements in textbooks

A group of Turkish academics, journalists, artists and intellectuals have released a statement condemning in the harshest terms what they define as expressions that include “open hatred and hostility” towards Armenians in Turkish schoolbooks, which were recently exposed by the newspapers Agos and Taraf. Turkish Zaman writes about this.

The two newspapers recently published reports on hateful remarks targeting Armenians in the textbooks used in history classes.

A letter accompanying the text of the condemnation, written by historian Taner Akçam, notes that including such expressions as lesson material to teach children is a disgrace.
The signees said textbooks in schools should seek to encourage feelings of peace, solidarity and living together over inciting hatred towards different religious and cultural groups, Akçam said. He further wrote: “Standing with integrity in the face of history is the prerequisite for establishing the future on the foundations of friendship and peace. I do hope that this signature campaign will be taken as a scream from all of us for the publication of textbooks that we would like to see.”

The statement said: “The revolutions history and history textbooks should be collected immediately, with an apology issued to everyone and particularly to Armenian students. This is where the path to Turkish-Armenian peace lies, at this time when we are approaching 2015.”

In 2015 the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide is to be commemorated. Armenian Genocide is the most terrible crime against humanity on the beginning of the 20th century and was committed by Ottoman Empire. More than 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks.

The signatories include some of Turkey’s most respected writers and journalists.