BELGIAN TEXTBOOK INSULTS TURKEY’S FOUNDER ATATURK
Vedat DenÝzlÝ Brussels

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2007

Following the broadcast of videos with explicit content about Ataturk
by a Greek youth on the famous Internet site youtube.com, Belgium
has engaged in similar infamy by listing Ataturk among the important
homosexual and bisexual personalities of history.

A book by the minister of education of the province of Valon in Belgium
and distributed to all schools in the province claims that Ataturk was
one of history’s important and famous homosexual or bisexual figures

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was included on a list of "Famous homosexuals
and bisexuals in history" on the 105th page of the 144-page book
titled, "Fight Against Homophobia." The small book, prepared at the
instructions of Valon Education Minister Marie Arena and distributed
to all students in primary and secondary education, emphasizes that
homosexuality is not actually a negative thing and that there were
many famous and important homosexual or bisexual people in history.

Today’s Zaman’s efforts to reach Marie Arena proved fruitless. It
is unknown what source this information was based on, though it will
certainly spark harsh reactions in Turkey. A leading paper in Belgium,
De Standaard, covered the issue and in a related report wrote that
Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, was included on the list and
noted that it was yet unknown whether the Turkish Embassy in Belgium
was aware of the incident.

Belgium is one of the few countries in the world that grants its
citizens the right to same-sex marriages and child adoption by
homosexual couples. It is stated that the distribution of the book was
aimed at "enlightening the future of the young generation in Belgium"
and informing them correctly by giving information on the history
of homosexuality and the general sociocultural perception in regard
to homosexuality. The book also touches on the equality of women and
discusses the viewpoints of other societies regarding homosexuality,
with an aim to prevent the younger generation from harboring negative
opinions on homosexuality.

Among famous homosexuals in history, according to the book, are
Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, and Goethe. Other interesting
names on the list are some spiritual leaders of the Catholic world
such as Pope Benoit IX and Pope Jules III.

Turkey currently has some other problems with Belgium, such as allowing
the escapte of Fehriye Erdal, the murderer of Ozdemir Sabancý,
brother of late famous businessman Sakýp Sabancý. Belgium is also
a country where members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C)
freely walk the streets. Belgium is also trying to punish the denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide.

Meanwhile a Belgian court found a security company guilty of
discrimination after it refused to employ Turkish national Murat
Calýþkan on the basis of his being a foreigner. The court accused the
company of "apparent racism" and ruled that it should pay compensation
to Calýþkan. He said he would use the compensation money in the fight
against racism and donate it to immigration centers.

–Boundary_(ID_U4fxjLm2hIYT7/QDWPJ2TA)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress