Following the broadcast of videos with explicit content about Atatürk by a Greek youth on the famous Internet site youtube.com, Belgium has engaged in similar infamy by listing Atatürk among the important homosexual and bisexual personalities of history. A book by the minister of education of the province of Valon in Belgium and distributed to all schools in the province claims that Atatürk was one of history's important and famous homosexual or bisexual figures. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was included on a list of "Famous homosexuals and bisexuals in history" on the 105th page of the 144-page book titled, "Fight Against Homophobia." The small book, prepared at the instructions of Valon Education Minister Marie Arena and distributed to all students in primary and secondary education, emphasizes that homosexuality is not actually a negative thing and that there were many famous and important homosexual or bisexual people in history. Today’s Zaman’s efforts to reach Marie Arena proved fruitless. It is unknown what source this information was based on, though it will certainly spark harsh reactions in Turkey. A leading paper in Belgium, De Standaard, covered the issue and in a related report wrote that Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, was included on the list and noted that it was yet unknown whether the Turkish Embassy in Belgium was aware of the incident. Belgium is one of the few countries in the world that grants its citizens the right to same-sex marriages and child adoption by homosexual couples. It is stated that the distribution of the book was aimed at “enlightening the future of the young generation in Belgium” and informing them correctly by giving information on the history of homosexuality and the general sociocultural perception in regard to homosexuality. The book also touches on the equality of women and discusses the viewpoints of other societies regarding homosexuality, with an aim to prevent the younger generation from harboring negative opinions on homosexuality. Among famous homosexuals in history, according to the book, are Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, and Goethe. Other interesting names on the list are some spiritual leaders of the Catholic world such as Pope Benoit IX and Pope Jules III. Turkey currently has some other problems with Belgium, such as allowing the escapte of Fehriye Erdal, the murderer of Özdemir Sabancı, brother of late famous businessman Sakıp Sabancı. Belgium is also a country where members of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) freely walk the streets. Belgium is also trying to punish the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide. Meanwhile a Belgian court found a security company guilty of discrimination after it refused to employ Turkish national Murat Çalışkan on the basis of his being a foreigner. The court accused the company of “apparent racism” and ruled that it should pay compensation to Çalışkan. He said he would use the compensation money in the fight against racism and donate it to immigration centers.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=106725
JPTF 2007/03/29
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