The Fear of Monkeys
The cover of the March issue of the Science and Technology magazine of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) was supposed to feature Charles Darwin, founder of the theory of evolution. However, the cover was changed at the last minute by Prof. Ömer Cebeci, co-chair of the council, and articles relating to Darwin were taken out of the issue.
This has led to speculations in the national media that creationists have taken over in TÜBİTAK and have prevented the celebration of the 200th year of Darwin’s birth in this year’s Darwin Year.
Biologist Murat Gülsaçan reacts to the event:
The media got hold of the censored Darwin cover, and there was no way the event could be denied. Because this has happened in the Darwin Year, it needs to be interpreted carefully.
The easiest thing to do is of course to put all the blame on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the staff on its payroll everywhere. The lazy opposition will certainly be attracted by such accusations.
All day yesterday, the media was filled with news emphasising that the AKP has got its people working everyhwere. There are many people fearing that the Science and Technology will be turned into the (Islamic) Sızıntı magazine.
Science and Technology will not become a Sızıntı
I have had the opportunity to write articles for the Science and Technology magazine before and after the Prime Minister’s Office started interfering with TÜBİTAK.
After Çiğdem Atakuman became editor-in-chief I have also made some small contributions to the magazine.
Even if I am not part of the magazine’s permanent staff, my long-term involvement with it leads me to say that there is no possibility of the Science and Technology (ST) magazine turning into Sızıntı in the near future.
One of the most important reasons for that is of course the reactions we witnessed yesterday.
The ST magazine is the face of TÜBİTAK. I have met many people who believe that the main function of TÜBİTAK is to publish this magazine, or that former editor-in-chief Raşit Gürdilek was the head of the TÜBİTAK council.
What is more, TÜBİTAK collaborates with many scientific institutions aborad; it has a respectibility it needs to protect, and anti-evolutionism is not an acceptable attitude in the scientific world.
That is why, even if attempts are made, it is not so easy to turn the ST magazine into a type of Sızıntı magazine.
TÜBİTAK always publishes and writes about evolution
I have even better proof that this will not happen, based on a debate between the ST magazine and the Science and Future magazine, a new appearance at the time.
An article in the Science and Future magazine dealt with gender segregation in the animal world. It was entitled “Haremlik and Selamlık in the Animal World”. The first two terms are often used in religiously conservative circles to refer to women-only and men-only gatherings.
The article was interpreted as resulting from interference from the religious AKP staff.
In fact, the article, written by Zeynep Tozar, was concerned with different ways that animals choose mates and did not contain any religious references. However, it was impossible to convince the many people who saw the AKP as the “mother of all evil” of the contrary.
Columnists who had obviously not read the article used it as evidence that the AKP was taking over TÜBİTAK.
[…]
But their fears were never realised.
TÜBİTAK continued to publish books on evolution, and the ST magazine continued to publish articles on evolution. If you open nearly any issue of ST magazine from the last ten years, you will find an article on evolution or Darwin.
Indeed, it is virtually impossible to write about the science of life in any discipline without referring to the concept of evolution.
Long history of anti-evolutionism in Turkey
However, the ST magazine has tried to avoid negative reactions to topics such as evolution ever since it was founded, long before the AKP government. If one looks at the montly issues in its 42-year history, evolution has only been on the cover twice.
However, even such careful behaviour has not prevented a question put in parliament as to what Darwinism is doing in a state magazine.
If the last issue of the magazine had not had a cover featuring Darwin and so many articles on him inside, there would not have been such a problem.
Turkey a centre of anti-evolutionism
If one compares Turkey with other western countries, it ranks last in terms of its acceptance of the concept of evolution.
However, if one compares Turkey with other Islamic countries, as was done recently, it comes second after Kazakhstan.
Nevertheless, the same study pointed to Turkey as a centre of anti-evolutionist propaganda, citing Adnan Oktar’s Scientific Research Foundation (BAV).
Around 7-8 years ago, the president of the Association of Biologists, a biology professor, appeared on television and criticised the concept of evolution with the words of Harun Yahya (the pen-name of Adnan Oktar, who has written many books denouncing evolution and promoting creationism).
A few years ago, today’s Minister of Education clearly stated his anti-evolution views on television and in parliament.
Minister Hüseyin Çelik equated the concept of evolution with atheism; when pressured, he also used Harun Yahya’s arguments and declared Darwin an enemy of the Turks.
We are the only country teaching the concept of evolution together with the creationism at the level of middle school (years 5-8).
I will never forget the shock of an Iranian colleague when I told him that children learnt about creationism in biology classes in Turkey. The biologist could not believe it, saying, “But how can you mix beliefs and science?”
Today TV newsreaders interviewing scientists speak of the creationist “theory”. A biology professor speaking at a press briefing on 12 February also spoke of the “creationist theory.”
All of this shows us the power of the discourse against evolution in our country.
[…]
Silence of Turkish academia
It is of course the duty of academics to work against the anti-evolution propaganda. One of the most frequent slogans of anti-evolutionists is that “evolution has long been found to be wrong by scientists, it is only a theory.”
Neary every discussion on evolution leads to this argument, and this is why the 2009 Darwin Year is so important.
The whole world is competing in its celebration of a scientist who was born 200 years ago and who published his great work 150 years ago.
For years, 12 February has been celebrated as Darwin Day. Leading universities around the world announced their programme for Darwin Year a year ago. Important scientific journals prepared special issues for the occasion.
When the Turkish press announced the Darwin Year towards the end of last year and marked it with articles on Darwin and evolution, I could not help thinking that the media were trying to push academics into waking up.
Of course not everyone in our country is inactive. There are a few small groups, mostly made up of young scientists, who are trying to teach their people about evolution and struggle against anti-evolution propaganda.
They have achieved more than their predecessors ever dared to.
Darwin Year hardly commemorated in Turkey
However, had it not been for a handful of academics announcing Darwin Year on 12 February from several different cities in Turkey at the same time, the year would have gone by unmarked.
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Of all the hundreds of biology, geology, chemistry, molecular biology departments and agriculture, medicine, vetinary medicin and education faculties in our country, which harbour thousands of academics, only one evolution symposium has emerged. Again, it has been organised because of a handful of people.
While our people are spending Darwin Year believing that the theory of evolution has long been outdated, have there been any of the departments listed above who have announced a programme of activities?
What about any university with a science faculty? Have they made announcements?
Has anyone stood up and said: “Oh people, 150 years after Darwin, evolution theory is more sound than ever. New evidence found each year strenghtens it. The theory of evolution has meant that we have been able to develop applications that help us in all areas of life. As scientists of this country, we invite you to get to know Darwin and the theory of evolution this year”?
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The fear of monkeys
The news items yesterday keep emphasising that Cebeci (the co-chair of TÜBİTAK) has spent time working in Saudi Arabia. We do not know what Cebeci thinks about evolution, and we do not know exactly what happened with the March issue of the ST magazine. But I personally do not believe that we have to look towards Saudi Arabia or the AKP for an explanation.
The anti-evolutionist propaganda is extremely powerful. Remember the (mobile phone provider) Avea advertisement featuring a monkey, which was censored by the Zaman newspaper (a monkey and a man standing in the classical evolutionary order were censored so that only the human was left).
This “fear of monkeys” is so prevalent that even such an allusion can lead to heated debate.
We can say that most of our academics have been affected by this fear of monkeys.
It is not necessary to look towards Saudi Arabia after the scandal of the Darwin magazine cover; Turkey is sufficiently frightening.
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Auto-censorship of academia
Otherwise, how can you explain the fact that academia has shown nearly no resistance to a science curriculum teaching creationism since the 1980s and the ongoing propaganda against evolutionism?
After yesterday’s upheaval, even the Republican People’s Party (CHP) made a statement, but did any universities or academic institutions say anything? Do you think they will today?
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Today there will be protests in front of TÜBİTAK; Ömer Cebeci and the TÜBİTAK management are being called on to resign, as they should be.
Of course there must be an explanation of what happened and those responsible must come forward. We must be promised that the censored articles will be published in the next issue of the magazine.
However, as I tried to explain above, trying to explain the event with the AKP is only hiding the bigger truth.
Even if the AKP is silencing TÜBİTAK, who has been silencing our universities for years? What is worse, the censorship of TÜBİTAK or the auto-censorship of the universities?
[…] (MG/EZÖ/AG)
