There are myriad celebrations honoring the 200th year anniversary of Charles Darwin‘s birth. Yet, one hundred and fifty years after publishing his On the Origin of Species Darwin‘s still making ’em mad. Robert Tait reports from Istanbul for the Guardian that Turkish political factions are currently tussling over freedom of scientific speech after “state officials forced a science journal to scrap an article celebrating the work of Charles Darwin.”

According to The Guardian story, “Bilim ve Teknik (Science and Technology Journal) withdrew the 16-page feature from this month’s issue under orders from its publisher, the state-run Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (Tubitak). The magazine’s editor, Cigdem Atakuman, was also sacked for ‘exceeding her authority’ by commissioning the article, which Tubitak said was ‘not planned or scientifically evaluated beforehand.'”

The incident has occasioned many Turkish academics and opposition politicians to come forward and decry the state’s role in censorship, accusing the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party government of trying to impose religious ideas on academic institutions. European officials have also said that increased censorship and limits on free speech may mar Turkey’s hope of joining the European Union.

According to the Guardian report, the Turkish government denies having anything to do with the censorship of the journal and, despite its opposition to evolutionary theory, joins in condemning the banning of the article. “Minister of State Mehmet Aydin, who is responsible for overseeing Tubitak, said the body had been guilty of censorship — but still implicitly criticised Darwinism in his statement. ‘Tubitak is supposed to reflect the views of all those who have served science,’ he said. ‘No matter how mistaken they can be.'”

Happy 200th Birthday, Charles. Now, who’s working on The Devolution of the Species?