Saturday, February 13, 2010

Turkish schools shocked by ‘Kurdistan map’

13-02-2010

Konya – Primary schools in the Turkish province of Konya were shocked by their education books, when the books showed a part of Turkey as ‘Kurdistan’ reports Hurriyet.

The books were created by the Yayin company. The company didn’t check the books and took an image from the internet without looking to it. This map showed a part of Turkey as Kurdistan. The company apologized to the Turkish population, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

Company representative Yuksel said that his company supports the unity and apologizes to the Turkish people. The company have called on all schools to sent the books back.

Turkey is very sensitive for references to the geographical name ‘Kurdistan’ (Land of the Kurds), which was used from time to time in the Ottoman empire in the 19th century. This is sometimes classified as the "Sèvres syndrome," named for the French city where Western powers tried to dismember Turkey after World War I. Turkey's antiterrorism laws prohibits activities promoting separatism and other policies opposed to the state and people have been charged for using the word ‘Kurdistan’.

© Rudaw