TUBITAK was planning to publish a 16-page article devoted to Darwin in the March issue of its magazine Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology) and to put his image on the cover, but almost out of nowhere, TUBITAK Vice President Professor Omer Cebeci removed the story, pulled Darwin’s image and reportedly fired Dr. Cigdem Atakuman – the journal’s chief editor.

The former chief editor of Bilim ve Teknik confirmed she was fired but refused to comment, nature.com reports.

The March issue was published a week later than planned – and without any traces of Darwin.

Both this TUBITAK’s move and the August 2008 amendments to TUBITAK’s charter that gave the government a certain degree of control over the institution have been considered an indication of growing political influence over the science institution.

“What is the reason for removing the Darwin story and photo from the journal?” the motion of Turkey’s main opposition party is quoted by Hurriyet as asking. “Isn’t it a kind of censorship to intervene in the journal’s content and cover page during the publication process? Is this an acceptable situation for a science institution to allow such an implementation?”

Many Muslims, as well as adepts of other faiths, doubt Darwin’s theory of evolution, which says that life on Earth developed according to the laws of nature and that all species have common ancestors, which completely opposes proponents of creationism.