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 Özer, 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.
Abbas Güçlü
