During the preparation of the March 2009 issue of the monthly journal Bilim ve Teknik published by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the problems arising from nonconformity to  the institutional procedures on the part of a staff member in that Council have been misinterpreted as the application of censure to the propagation in the said Journal of the theories of the renowned scientist Charles Darwin. This misinterpretation has been a source of grievance for TÜBİTAK and for the science community at large both in Turkey and abroad.

Global warming was chosen as the main theme of the March 2009 issue of  Bilim ve Teknik. When the Journal was ready to go into print, the editor of the journal, Dr. Çiğdem Atakuman, submitted information to Professor Ömer Cebeci, Vice President of TÜBİTAK in charge of publications, concerning the issue of the Journal in question. Dr. Atakuman indicated that the editorial work was completed and that work on the graphic material was continuing.

The March 2009 issue of the Journal contained a page devoted to TÜBİTAK publications on Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. On her own initiative, that is consulting neither the Editorial Board of the Journal nor Professor Cebeci, Dr. Atakuman inserted 16 additional pages to the journal, and instructed the technical personnel on duty on Saturday, February 28th to change the cover page graphics from the topic of global warming to Darwin. The particular issue of the Journal was thus prepared hastily, without regard to the institutional procedures. When it was brought to his attention, Professor Cebeci questioned the inclusion of the additional pages on Darwin’s anniversary, put together by an assistant staff and  not reviewed by scientific editors. Realizing her error, Dr. Atakuman directed the staff to change the cover page back to its original form and take out the additional 16 pages. During the whole process, there was no application of censure or of pressure on the publication Darwin’s theories, neither from the TÜBİTAK administration, nor from vice director Cebeci.

Here it should also be noted that even a cursory perusal of the March 2009 issue of the Journal will make it amply evident that the journal, in fact, does contain items  about the TÜBİTAK publications on Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. The latter publications, comprising thousands of pages, are richer than all the other publications produced in Turkey on Darwin. The TÜBİTAK’s interest in Darwin and to his theory of evolution is no less than its approach to other scientific theories. In fact, the book entitled, This is Biology by Ernst Mayr, one of the pioneers of modern synthesis in evolutionary biology, was reprinted by TÜBİTAK in November 2008.

Charles Darwin’s anniversary will continue to receive full attention in Bilim ve Teknik throughout the year 2009. In particular, a special issue of the Journal will be devoted to this very topic.

The charter of TÜBİTAK defines the primary goals of that Council as: (1) supporting scientific and technological research conducted by the academia and the public and private sectors, (2) conducting scientific and technological investigations in areas critical to the country, (3) to promote scientific literacy in the public, and (4) providing other kinds of support to researchers.

TÜBİTAK shall continue its work toward the full realization of its mission and goals as delineated in its Charter. At a time when the country is making bold and strong advances in science and technology, we feel that bringing up this topic in a manner tainted with prejudice will not be productive in respect to those earnest efforts.

The support of all types of scientific endeavors, and the removal of all obstacles from the exercise of scientific research, are the primary goals of TÜBİTAK. Here it should be particularly pointed out that taking the events of the last week as censure applied to science has therefore caused great sorrow among the members of TÜBİTAK.