The 12th grade religious course book used in public schools in Turkey promotes armed jihad, ignoring the abuse of the jihad concept by violent terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The textbook reflects the prevailing ideology of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been governing the NATO member country for the last 20 years.

The 2019 edition, authored by Abdullah Acık, Veli Karatas and Mustafa Yılmaz, was produced by the government printing office in two volumes and distributed under the title “Fundamentals of Islam’s Religious Beliefs.”

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The book emphasizes that armed jihad is obligatory for all Muslims and notes that “Today, the concept of jihad is associated with bad examples, especially by the opponents of Islam”. It claims jihad is brought up by opponents of Islam as something bad and something to be avoided, adding that Muslims were deliberately defamed by these opponents over jihad.

Read more: Nordic Monitor