Map distributed to Istanbul schools redraws borders of Turkey
Abbas Güçlü

ISTANBUL – Milliyet
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A CD prepared by Istanbul’s provincial education directorate has
redrawn the map of Turkey to include parts of northern Iraq.

The mistake shocked even the directorate itself and placed education
officials in an awkward situation as it comes just after Education
Ministry school books got the dates of some national days wrong.

The ministry on Wednesday ordered that the CDs be taken back from
schools and parents who had received them, it was reported.

A CD was distributed to schools as part of the parent education
project and on it the map of Turkey included the cities of Mosul and
Kirkuk in northern Iraq as being within Turkey’s borders. It also
shows the island of Cyprus and Armenia as part of Turkey. Parts of
Georgia and Bulgaria have also been depicted as within Turkey’s
borders.

The project was prepared during the tenure of former Istanbul
education director, Ata Ã-zer, and the discrepancies have shocked
current director Muammer Yıldız.

The map mistake compounds the embarrassment from schoolbooks prepared
by the Education Ministry and distributed free of charge to students
also have some very glaring errors. The occasion of Victory Day on
Aug. 30 is omitted and an incorrect date is cited for Children and
National Sovereignty Day, celebrated on April 23. The day has been
marked as April 29 in the books.

`Such a map is unacceptable. It is a big mistake that can create
unnecessary debate. I am very sad,’ said Yıldız, who initiated an
inquiry into the matter.

Yıldız said the information was compiled from various sources but
that no one noticed the discrepancies until after it was sent to all
Istanbul schools was even more shocking.

`It can’t be used as an excuse that the map escaped the attention of
our people working on the project. I wish it hadn’t happened. But
someone from among us should have spotted it and warned us,’ said
Yıldız.

Istanbul was chosen as the pilot province to rate the effectiveness of
the project. The aim is to educate parents on various issues, ranging
from first aid to how to deal with children, prior to the start of the
school term. It was carried out during the week before schools started
alongside the `getting used to school’ program for children about to
begin their education. Around 230,000 children began their first year
of primary school in the province of Istanbul this year.

The objective was to have an orientation week for all of these
children and their parents.

© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News