Education Ministry Censors Poem in Textbook

A 9th grade school textbook approved by Education Ministry included a poem by Melih Cevdet Anday with a version where the word "God" appeared as "Allah", a practice that brought up censorship allegations in Turkey's education system.

The poem appeared on page 48 in a literature subject textbook approved by Education Ministry.

"I have no idea that that word was edited," textbook editor Sakin Öner told bianet. "We have worked on that textbook in 2005, but I have no idea what happened after. I don't personally approve such interventions on literary works."

Öner said the educational council could have replaced the poem with a different, rather than editing.

"I don't find it ethical and it is not legal," Öner said. "You can make minor edits on prose, but when it comes to poetry you can't do that."

Sevengül Sönmez, an editor who worked on Anday's books, said she had never seen a version of that poem with the word "Allah".

"Literary works keep getting published by respecting its original versions. Neither an editor, nor publishing houses have the right to edit them. They must at least include a footnote, whenever editing is involved.

Education Ministry's intervention on Anday's poem brought up censorship allegations in Turkey's education system. Recently, similar practices were observed in other textbooks on the works of Yunus Emre, Edip Cansever, John Steinbeck, Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos and Amin Maalof. (EA/BM)

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