Moves to prepare 6th grade Greek history textbooks which present a more positive image of Turks than in the past have caused controversy in Greece.
Speaking about the preparations underway to make additions and/or extractions from the current textbooks, Greek National Education Council President Professor Veremis said "I do not understand why we have always portrayed Turks as monsters. Why do we not explain our own excesses in Anatolia?"
The Greek government has in fact taken a step backwards, due to sharp public reaction, to its original plans to "soften" the image of Turks presented in elementary school textbooks. National Education Minister Marieatta Yianaku has said that experts will examine the books, and will make additions or extractions if deemed necessary. Professor Veremis, a well-known Greek intellectual, talked more about the portrayal of Turks as what he characterized as "monsters," noting "If all Turks were monsters, monsters kill eachother. And the Ottoman empire lived on for hundreds of years." Veremis also cast light on Greek failure to discuss their own warfare, talking about the Greek invasion of Tripoli and how the city was reduced to rubble "There are monsters everywhere. Are we forgetting what we did? Why don't we talk about the excesses we carried out in Asia Minor?"
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/6251747.asp?gid=74
What they seem to have left out from the Turkish version of the article is that the GCs have returned the very same books to Greece because it failed to "monsterise" the Turks to their likings, typical
