Balozi
Mon, 16th March 2009, 15:33:19
Turkish intellectuals, academics and students condemned their country's top scientific agency on Wednesday for its decision to remove a cover story on Charles Darwin and his work from a popular state-run magazine.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/images/2009/03/13/SVETLAphoto.jpg
Turkey's top science and research agency came under strong criticism Wednesday (March 11th) for ordering the removal of a cover story on Charles Darwin from a state-run monthly magazine it publishes.
The March issue of Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) was supposed to mark the 200th anniversary of the British scientist's birth and the 150th anniversary of his book on evolution, On the Origin of Species. But under orders from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the magazine scrapped the 16-page material on that theme at the last minute.
The top-selling magazine eventually reached the newsstands with a week's delay and with a story on global warming instead. It also removed the scientist's picture from the cover.
Science and Technology editor Cigdem Atakuman told local media that Omer Cebeci, the deputy director of TUBITAK, which advises the Turkish government on science and research issues, had ordered the change. She also confirmed reports that she had lost her post over the case.
Scientists, intellectuals, students, and journalists described TUBITAK's move as an unacceptable act of censorship, with some calling for Cebeci's resignation. Critics also alleged that the council was courting the government, which has the final word appointing members of the agency's scientific committee.
Representatives of the University Councils' Association protested in front of TUBITAK's headquarters in Ankara on Wednesday with posters imploring "Stop the enemies of science".
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) have repeatedly pledged their commitment to secularism and democracy. But more than six years after the party came to power, secularists suspect it of seeking to promote the role of Islam in the country, including the Muslim version of creationism.
"This incident is proof that a dogmatic world view that is opposed to science dominates" TUBITAK, a group of academics from Ankara's Middle East Technical University protested in a statement.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who oversees TUBITAK, joined critics of the article's removal.
"TUBITAK is supposed not to put censorship on science, but to open all doors to the development of science," the minister said at the opening of the council's Aegean research and development day in Izmir on Wednesday.
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, a member of Erdogan's AKP, expressed additional disapproval of the council's intervention.
"Whether you like Darwin's theory or not, whether you believe in it or not, this is another matter," he said. "What has been done is wrong."
The University Councils' Association said on Wednesday it plans to hold a conference on evolutionary science in May.
setimes.com (http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/03/13/feature-02)
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/images/2009/03/13/SVETLAphoto.jpg
Turkey's top science and research agency came under strong criticism Wednesday (March 11th) for ordering the removal of a cover story on Charles Darwin from a state-run monthly magazine it publishes.
The March issue of Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) was supposed to mark the 200th anniversary of the British scientist's birth and the 150th anniversary of his book on evolution, On the Origin of Species. But under orders from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), the magazine scrapped the 16-page material on that theme at the last minute.
The top-selling magazine eventually reached the newsstands with a week's delay and with a story on global warming instead. It also removed the scientist's picture from the cover.
Science and Technology editor Cigdem Atakuman told local media that Omer Cebeci, the deputy director of TUBITAK, which advises the Turkish government on science and research issues, had ordered the change. She also confirmed reports that she had lost her post over the case.
Scientists, intellectuals, students, and journalists described TUBITAK's move as an unacceptable act of censorship, with some calling for Cebeci's resignation. Critics also alleged that the council was courting the government, which has the final word appointing members of the agency's scientific committee.
Representatives of the University Councils' Association protested in front of TUBITAK's headquarters in Ankara on Wednesday with posters imploring "Stop the enemies of science".
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) have repeatedly pledged their commitment to secularism and democracy. But more than six years after the party came to power, secularists suspect it of seeking to promote the role of Islam in the country, including the Muslim version of creationism.
"This incident is proof that a dogmatic world view that is opposed to science dominates" TUBITAK, a group of academics from Ankara's Middle East Technical University protested in a statement.
State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who oversees TUBITAK, joined critics of the article's removal.
"TUBITAK is supposed not to put censorship on science, but to open all doors to the development of science," the minister said at the opening of the council's Aegean research and development day in Izmir on Wednesday.
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, a member of Erdogan's AKP, expressed additional disapproval of the council's intervention.
"Whether you like Darwin's theory or not, whether you believe in it or not, this is another matter," he said. "What has been done is wrong."
The University Councils' Association said on Wednesday it plans to hold a conference on evolutionary science in May.
setimes.com (http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2009/03/13/feature-02)