The Cypriot government has instructed schools in the Republic of Cyprus to withdraw a textbook from their curriculum on grounds that it holds Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in good light.
The instruction came after a misguided one from the education ministry that asked schoolteachers to tear out the page in question before giving them out to the students.
The controversy in question exists the book quoted Ataturk as the greatest hero of Turkey, which goes against the social fabric and moral ethics of the Republic of Cyprus.
The education ministry explained its decision on grounds Ataturk wasn’t someone worthy of being appreciated, and that putting his personality in any positive light undermines the spirit of freedom and leadership. Given as Ataturk was directly involved with heinous crimes like the Armenian genocide, there is no way he should be regarded as anything lesser than negative.