Celal Şengör reacts to the curriculum: Anyone who does not include evolution and Darwin in textbooks is a traitor

Prof. Dr. Celal Şengör criticized the absence of the theory of evolution—which reveals that living species on Earth have undergone change over time as a result of a process he called natural selection—and its author, Charles Darwin, from the educational curriculum.

Participating in Simge Fıstıkoğlu's program on Sözcü TV, Şengör mentioned that he knew about Darwin when he was in the 4th or 5th grade, to which the program's moderator, Simge Fıstıkoğlu, responded ironically, saying, "Children today are very lucky; their minds aren't confused because there is no Darwin in biology textbooks."

Şengör then used the following expressions:

"This is the result of a terrible ignorance. Anyone who does not include evolution and Darwin in textbooks is a traitor. They are betraying their country, their nation, and reason. I said these things while the Minister of National Education's wife was sitting right in front of me."

In 2017, evolution was removed from the educational curriculum in the Republic of Turkey for the first time.