04.09.2009, Hürriyet Daily News

Darwin Show Comes to Ankara

Charles Darwin returns to the fore yet again in Turkey but this time under less controversial circumstances. The British Council is set to open an exhibition called "Darwin Now" in Ankara on Friday to mark the 200-year anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection."

Earlier in the year, a huge uproar was caused when the cover story of a publication of Turkey's Research and Science Council, TÜBİTAK, was pulled allegedly because it focused on Darwin's theory of evolution. The incident led to intense criticism and resulted in finger-pointing by various officials of that publication and its parent institute. A few months later, the same article appeared as the publication's cover story.

"Darwin Now is an international program that investigates evolutionary theory and the influence that Darwin has made on our society," the British Council said in a statement on Wednesday. The exhibition will open at Bilkent University and will run through Oct.15.

Earlier, the exhibition was displayed in Istanbul and in 25 othercountries.