
‘Clover Girl’ book removed from MoNE list due to discriminatory statements
The book ‘Yonca Girl’ by Kemal Bilbaşar, which was included in the list of ‘100 Basic Works’ of the Ministry of National Education, was removed from the list following a complaint. The ‘Zero Discrimination Association’ had complained to the Ministry of National Education about the book on the grounds that it used discriminatory, derogatory and targeting expressions about Roma, and had also filed a criminal complaint with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
As part of the ‘PRALA’ project initiated by the Zero Discrimination Association to increase Roma access to legal aid, the book that was the subject of the complaint had been included in the ‘100 Basic Works’ curriculum since 2008.
The book, written by Kemal Bilbaşar in 1971, tells the story of Yonca Girl who was kidnapped by ‘Gypsy Hasan’ and subjected to various tortures. In 2008, Soner Durmuş, President of Artvin Lomder, noticed the book in a reading competition organised among students at school and complained to the Ministry of National Education by SAD.
The Ministry of National Education formed a commission to examine the book and found the request justified and removed the book from the list.
SAD lawyer Zeynep Duygu Ulusoy stated that ‘the Ministry will also examine other books on the list of Basic Works in terms of hate speech, similar negative expressions and behaviours’.
The application process to the Prosecutor's Office is still ongoing. Lawyer Ulusoy stated that they also met with the publishing house and discussed the removal of discriminatory expressions against Roma.
28.02.2014
Source: Green Newspaper