Turkey to stop teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in high schools because it is 'controversial and difficult to understand' 

Turkey is to stop teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in high schools, claiming it is controversial and difficult to understand, a senior education official said.
In a move which has alarmed secular Turks, a chapter entitled 'Beginning of Life and Evolution' will be deleted from the standard biology textbooks used in schools.
The material will be available only to students who go on to higher education, according to head of the national education board Alparslan Durmus.
Critics say President Tayyip Erdogan and the Islamist-rooted AK Party are undermining modern Turkey's secular foundations by pushing a conservative agenda.
They have held up tighter regulation of alcohol and other restrictions since he came to power in 2002 as further examples.
'We are aware that if our students don't have the background to comprehend the premises and hypotheses, or if they don't have the knowledge and scientific framework, they will not be able to understand some controversial issues, so we have left out some of them,' said Durmus.

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Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said earlier this year that Darwin theory, first published in the 19th century, was 'old and rotten' and did not necessarily have to be taught.
The changes are part of a new curriculum that will go into effect at the start of the 2017-2018 academic year, and was formulated in accordance with 'Turkish values', Durmus said.
A total of 51 courses programmes from primary school to high school, including those at the 'Imam Hatip' religious schools championed by Erdogan, have been changed.