MINISTRY DENIES ECONOMIST REPORT ON ISRAEL ‘THREAT’

Today’s Zaman
Feb 2 2009
Turkey

The Turkish Education Ministry has denied a report by UK news
magazine The Economist suggesting that the ministry cancelled an
essay contest last month about the tragedy in Gaza due to threats by
Israeli officials.

Students across Turkey stood for a minute of silence after the
Education Ministry on Jan. 13 issued a nationwide decree to recognize
the casualties in Gaza, where more than 1,300 Palestinians died from
Israeli strikes launched on Dec. 27.

At the time Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gaby Levy contacted the
Turkish Foreign Ministry when he was informed of the Education
Ministry’s directive and said the politicians’ reaction to the
Israeli strikes were understandable to an extent. But he termed it
"unacceptable" and "politically motivated" to urge students to be
a part of a campaign against Israel. Following the reaction of the
Israeli ambassador, the Education Ministry canceled the planned essay
contest about the tragedy in Gaza.

"An education ministry circular particularly annoyed Israel by telling
Turkish schoolchildren to observe a minute’s silence in solidarity with
Palestinian children. In the event, the Israelis persuaded the Turks
to cancel a proposed essay and drawing contest for schoolchildren to
air their feelings of hatred towards Israel. Israeli officials were
apparently poised to respond by proposing a program in Israeli schools
for discussing the genocide of Armenians by Turks in the first world
war," said an article in the Jan. 29 edition of The Economist.

The report by The Economist magazine "doesn’t reflect the truth and
furthermore, it’s completely a lie," the ministry said in a statement
released over the weekend. "Any blackmail or threat, as mentioned in
the report, is out of the question," the statement added.