Turkey bans math textbooks due to questions including Gülen’s initials


Date posted: October 9, 2016

Turkey’s paranoia over the Gülen movement has reached new heights with the government banning mathematics textbooks due to questions involving the initials of Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

“A textbook was banned just because it features Gülen’s initials in a practice question that reads: ‘… from point F to point G …’. It has become a paranoia. Public money is being squandered,” main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Osman Budak told the Sözcü daily.

Textbooks that the government has destroyed over their allegedly harmful content weigh 13,000 tons and cost TL 50 million ($16 million), Budak said.

The allegedly harmful content is not limited to that related to the Gülen movement as an English-language textbook was also banned because Kemalist actor Müjdat Gezen was mentioned in the book, Budak added.

Since the Turkish government pinned the blame for a July 15 coup attempt on the movement, police have been presenting seized copies of books written by Gülen as evidence of terrorism.

In September Turkey’s Education Ministry said it would republish 58 state-distributed textbooks in order to eliminate any subliminal messages from what the government calls the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

The same month Turkey’s Sivas University pulled off the shelf of its libraries all copies of books written by Gülen and his alleged supporters and destroyed them with a shredder.

Also, license plates including the letters “FG” have already been removed from vehicles belonging to the Denizli Courthouse. (Turkey Purge)

Source: Turkish Minute , October 6, 2016


Related News

AK Party, Hizmet movement and politics

İHSAN YILMAZ  August 31, 2012 I have written repeatedly about the relationship between the Hizmet movement (aka Gulen movement) and politics here. Unfortunately, it still needs some more discussion. As is well known, Hizmet never associates itself with political parties. It is a volunteer movement that appeals to individuals from all sorts of social, cultural, […]

Turkey: ‘Exclusion for all’ state

No matter how many times I say, “Nothing worse or more unbelievable could happen,” Turkey never stops surprising me. Of course, as many agree, the unpredictable nature of things in Turkey makes this country a gold mine for journalists and researchers, but it’s exhausting at the same time. On Tuesday, the Journalists and Writers Foundation’s […]

Kazakh leader heads to Turkey to explain decision over Gulen schools

The official announcement did not provide any details about the visit, but Nazarbayev is expected to smooth over any disagreements between the two Turkic countries following the failed coup. The Kazakh-Turkish schools employ 1,124 teachers, of whom 1,030 are Kazakh citizens (91.7%) and 94 are Turkish citizens (8.3%).” Kazakhstan also has the Suleyman Demirel University, opened in Almaty in 1996.

Turkey purge victims unable to find jobs, leave country

“It’s a kind of civil death,” Kerem Altiparmak, a human rights lawyer and political science professor at Ankara University told Los Angeles Times on Wednesday when describing how the lives of thousands of people change after the July 15 coup attempt.

On front lines of fight for press freedom in Turkey

“I’m happy to be a journalist despite all the stress and pressure we’ve been under from the government,” Akarcesme said last Tuesday during a visit to the newspaper’s offices by group of Capital Region journalists and academics led by the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany.

Turkey deports former EU official for alleged Gulen-ties

The Turkish authorities prevented a former EU official from entering its territory. Joost Lagendijk, a former EU parliament member and EU rapporteur, was deported from the Sabiha Airport in Istanbul on Sunday.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

Gov’t cancels Kimse Yok Mu’s previously obtained permissions

Turkey, caliphate and Erdoğan

Nine decades later, Hizmet gives back to Karachi

Misrepresentation of Fethullah Gülen in English-language media

Turkish government defiant as battle over prep schools rises

Australian NGOs support Gülen against PM Erdoğan’s insults

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News