Below are excerpts from the Science Academy Statement on the Theory of Evolution:
“With a reasoned decision dated June 13, 2013, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) has refused to grant support to the ‘Mathematic Evolution Graduate Summer School’ project application which would be organized with the participation of prominent scientists from domestic and overseas universities.
“TÜBİTAK’s Department for Supporting Scientists has communicated to the applicants a Panel Report, indicating that ‘the concept of biological evolution is controversial in Turkey and the world’ and that there is no consensus on the matter as of yet, and that the proposed activity ‘stands out with its educative, political, cultural and social aspects, rather than its scientific content’ in order to justify its rejection.
“In actual fact, evolution is not a controversial issue for the international scientific community. The modern science of biology speaks the language of mathematics. Studies on evolution, a concept which connects diverse biological disciplines, make increased use of mathematical and calculative methods. Mathematical evolution is considered worldwide as an exciting contemporary field of study. The process of arbitration has been entrusted to panelists who are not even aware of this fact and scientists who asked for a reassessment of the application were told that the first assessment was objective and unalterable, both of which lead to serious concerns about the reliability of the arbitration process at TÜBİTAK.
“In the public arena, non-scientific circles continuously claim that the evolution theory is controversial and that creationism is equally scientific; however, the adoption of these arguments by TÜBİTAK, a public institution which is expected to grasp science correctly and evaluate scientific projects with the right criteria prompts us to make a number of statements about basic facts concerning science.
“We invite the TÜBİTAK Presidency and Scientific Board to elaborate on their claim that the evolution theory is controversial, to revise the said panel report and to review the expertise criteria and working methods of TÜBİTAK assessment panels.”
