Turkish students given text books justifying 9/11 attacks, slamming ‘weak’ EU — mirroring Erdogan views

Critics of the text book say school children in Turkey are being force-fed the rhetoric spread by Erdogan and his party at a young age. (AFP)

• Critics of the text book say school children in Turkey are being force-fed the rhetoric spread by Erdogan
• The book also takes aim at the Pope and the European Union for denying Turkey’s membership of the bloc

LONDON: A modern history text book for Turkish public school students appears to justify the Sept. 11 attacks in the US by Al-Qaeda and labels the European Union a “Christian club”, according to a report in Nordic Monitor.
The article from NM, a group that covers religious, ideological and ethnic extremist movements and radical groups, also shows that the text-book — which mirrors speeches by Turkey’s president Recept Tayyip Erdogan — contains text criticizing the NATO alliance.
The book, used by twelfth-grade students in public schools in Turkey, says among its pages: “The US, which has more say with the self-confidence it gained in the aftermath of the Cold War but complies less with international agreements, has started to see itself as one above equals in international relations.
“From that point forward, deciding which countries would be punished and what systems would be changed relied on definitions and references made by the US. These practices by the US are one of the reasons behind the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization’s attack on 9/11.”
According to the text book, the US became “the main source of problems in the world with what it did in the aftermath of September 11,” and is seeking to secure the “absolute dominance” of the international system.
The book also takes aim at the Pope and the European Union for denying Turkey’s membership of the bloc — slamming the “denial of membership to Turkey, a predominantly Muslim nation, while accepting (other) democratically and economically weak states,” which it said raised questions about the identity of the EU.
Within the same section, the book features a photo of EU leaders and the Pope in 2017 as they gathered in Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, with a caption from British-Polish historian Norman Davies: “I am talking about the common tradition of Christianity, which has made Europe what it is.”
Erdogan referenced the photo during his 2017 presidential referendum rallies and said it proved western Europe was “hostile to Islam.”
The book’s criticism of NATO stretches to the group’s multilateral foreign policy, which it claims has destroyed Turkey’s defense industry and has made Turkey “dependent on US military aid.”
Critics of the text book say school children in Turkey are being force-fed the rhetoric spread by Erdogan and his party at a young age.