Not only did the political cooperation between Turkey and Israel deteriorate ever since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took office almost 16 years ago, but the Turkish school curriculum has been radicalized to reflect the country's anti-Israel stance, a new report published by IMPACT-Se, an international research and policy institute that monitors culture tolerance in schools, and the Henry Jackson Society, revealed.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In his report, The Erdogan Revolution in the Turkish Curriculum Textbooks, Israeli researcher Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak explained that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to take center stage in the Turkish education system, which presents Israel as the only obstacle to peace, completely ignoring the Palestinian terrorist activity.
It details the Mavi Marmara flotilla crisis but does not highlight the previously bilateral relations between the two countries or the multiple trade agreements that have persisted despite numerous Middle Eastern upheavals.
The curriculum further tries to delegitimize Zionism, attributing to it every recent Middle Eastern conflict. Students in Turkey are taught that Israel's founding in 1948 and the subsequent victory in its War of Independence would never have been possible were it not for American and European support. It further calls the Gaza Strip "the biggest open-air prison."
On a more positive note, the Turkish curriculum mentions the Holocaust, including Auschwitz and Kristallnacht. However, even that is done briefly.
"The Turkish curriculum is a cause for concern because in 20-30 years, these students will be the decision-makers, and they will have no positive information about Israel, only negative," Cohen Yanarocak told Israel Hayom.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
