Old stereotypes give way to new textbooks in Turkey

Biased expressions such as ´Fearless Turk,´ ´Enemy Greek´ or ´housewife mother´ are slowly fading out of Turkish textbooks, but plenty of similar expressions remain on their pages. A recent study by academic Kenan Çayır shows where Turkey stands in terms of its educational language as experts debate what effect that has on students

Mehmed II ‘The Conqueror’ enters Constantinople with his army in 1453 in this famous painting by Fausto Zonaro. Historians are debating Turkey´s school textbooks.

Sexism, discriminatory attitudes and a lack of objectivity in Turkish schoolbooks, once accepted as the complete truth about the country’s culture and history, have come under fire as the Education Ministry continues an ongoing curriculum revision.

Certain examples of stereotypes, such as the “Fearless Turk,” the “Enemy Greek” or the “housewife mother” are slowly fading out of Turkish textbooks, but critics say biased language and perspectives continue to have a detrimental effect on schoolchildren.

Nationalist attitudes are a common feature in many texts. “The Turkish language has neither the sharp y’s or z’s of Italian, nor does it include the repetitive ‘-sin’ sounds of the Greek language that resembles a snake’s rustling,” one high school textbook from 2002 reads. “That shows the superiority of the Turkish language.”

Source: here

I agree that there is something wrong with the textbooks. We could add to that the bigotry of some teachers who fill students brains with nationalistic, religious and superstitious stuff.

This is not particular to Turkey however. It is done though in a somewhat indirect manner in most of Europe and in a comparable manner in countries like Greece, Bulgaria, Albenia and of course Armenia. These countries are full of people hating one another as a result of the relentless efforts of their state propoganda machines.

I always remember a dialogue started by my philosophy teacher in high school. He asked the class whether they believed in genies. The class answered: "No!". He went on to say, Don´t you have an inexplicable fear for example when you go to the edge of say a bushy corner thinking that something might pull you down despite you must normally feel absolutely safe where you are standing. There was a mixed reaction from the class this time. The teacher continued, "This is an instinct that we have to protect us from the unknown. Because unknown creatures do exist."

So far so good, once he had the attention of the class he went on to rave about how black cats could actually be genies and the stuff like that.

Right! But I don´t think it´s all because of their states. Streotypes are everywhere. I don´t think "barbarian Turks" stereotype for example is a result of their state education.