Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Turkey carves up history books

The strange case of the missing genocide...
Turkish diplomats have succeeded in getting the Brandenburg Prime Minister and his Education Minister to expunge a reference to the Armenian genocide of 1915-1916 from the history books.
One can´t exactly fault Turkey´s diplomats for wanting to whitewash their country´s image - that is, after all, their job.
But they must have been taken aback at the ease with which their censorship succeeded. The actions of Herr Matthias Platzeck (Brandenburg´s social democrat PM), and Holger Rupprecht (the minister), are not merely pusillanimous, but profoundly scandalous. In succumbing to this impertinent pressure, they make a mockery of their duty to education. Censorship of their schools´ curriculum, out of purely political considerations, is indefensible.
They should at once reverse this decision and resign the posts for which they are clearly unfitted.

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