Giving in to Turkish Pressure, German State of Brandenburg removes Armenian Genocide Text from Schoolbooks
Press reports from Germany and elsewhere are informing that the German state of Brandenburg has removed a text concerning the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 from their schoolbooks. The Index on Censorship writes
As Brandenburg was the only German state that had mentioned the Genocide in their schoolbooks the final removal would effectively mean a heavy blow to efforts regarding Genocide Recognition. It also shows Turkey's influence in Germany. It's hard to believe that in an independent democracy, schoolbooks can be dictated by a foreign state that is committed to the completion of the final stage of the worst crime against humanity.
Currently the events are being disputed in the public and the state government has been heavily criticized. The governments reaction were dementis and tactical retreats. Claiming that they had wanted to remove the text anyway and that this has nothing to do with genocide denial, they continue to distort the facts. Latest reports quote members of the government saying that in a future edition of the school textbook "both sides point of views" are going to be included. Disregarding the fact that a Genocide always has a perpetrator and a victim, this is a further step to misinforming the pupils and the public. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented:
The scandalous events should be criticized publicly and directly by all opposers of genocide and its denial. It is important to further step up the pressure on the state government and to make clear that their distortions and excuses are being identified as part of a campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide and therefor cannot be tolerated.
Turkish diplomats complained to state Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck, who complied, telling the paper that genocide was too important an issue to be dealt with in just half a sentence.The text had been included into schoolbooks back in 2002 on an initiative of then Secretary of Education Steffen Reiche. German press reports point out that the new Secretary Holger Rupprecht was pressured by the state Prime Minister to remove the text.
As Brandenburg was the only German state that had mentioned the Genocide in their schoolbooks the final removal would effectively mean a heavy blow to efforts regarding Genocide Recognition. It also shows Turkey's influence in Germany. It's hard to believe that in an independent democracy, schoolbooks can be dictated by a foreign state that is committed to the completion of the final stage of the worst crime against humanity.
Currently the events are being disputed in the public and the state government has been heavily criticized. The governments reaction were dementis and tactical retreats. Claiming that they had wanted to remove the text anyway and that this has nothing to do with genocide denial, they continue to distort the facts. Latest reports quote members of the government saying that in a future edition of the school textbook "both sides point of views" are going to be included. Disregarding the fact that a Genocide always has a perpetrator and a victim, this is a further step to misinforming the pupils and the public. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented:
Und was ist das Gegenteil von „einseitig” in bezug auf einen Völkermord - relativ?Regarding Genocides, the opposite of "one-sided" means relative. That's exactly what is happening again right now: denial and relativization of the Armenian Genocide. What Brandenburg's Government has done is giving in to the pressure and turning themselves into stooges of Turkey's genocide denial campaign.
The scandalous events should be criticized publicly and directly by all opposers of genocide and its denial. It is important to further step up the pressure on the state government and to make clear that their distortions and excuses are being identified as part of a campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide and therefor cannot be tolerated.
posted by yessem at 1:20 PM
<< Home