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Category: ACADEMIC FREEDOM

  • Solidarity Call for the Academics for Peace on Trial

    Solidarity Call for the Academics for Peace on Trial

    Academics for Peace in North America call for solidarity:

    “Violations of academic freedom and freedom of speech in Turkey have reached a dire situation.  The intimidations from Turkish government and its affiliates toward academics have escalated to legal action, whereby peace signatory academics face 7.5 years’ imprisonment if convicted for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

    In January 2016, 1128 academics signed the Peace Petition, titled ‘We Will Not Be A Party To This Crime’ in order to draw the public’s attention to the brutal acts of violence perpetrated by the state in the Kurdish regions of Turkey.  Immediately after the release of the petition, many signatories were prosecuted, dismissed from their posts, and their citizenship rights were seized. A large number of academics including Nobel Prize laureates and members of major science academies around the world initiated a support campaign nationally and internationally. People from different professions, such as journalists, artists, screen actors and actresses, and writers voiced their support for the persecuted academics. More people signed the petition, yet the suppression on the signatory academics got fiercer; hundreds of more academics were dismissed with statutory decrees, their passports were confiscated, they were banned from public sector employment, and criminal investigations were launched. Many of those academics had to leave the country and are now facing extreme difficulties in re-settling their lives and professions. One of the signatory academics –Mehmet Fatih Traş– could not stand this injustice and committed suicide. The declaration of state of emergency in July 2016 after a military coup attempt further blurred the distinction between criminal investigations and political punishment, and opened an arduous and painful avenue for not only the academics but also for journalists, writers, teachers, artists and others who demand freedom of speech in Turkey.

    The signatory academics abroad have recently initiated a targeted boycott towards the Turkish higher education system, and its complicit universities. The aim of the academic boycott is to ensure that all dismissals are revoked and the persecution of academics, exacerbated under the state of emergency regime, is ended. To this boycott, and continuous struggle of Academics for Peace, the government recently responded by a harsher strategy: signatory academics are sued on an individual basis based on the accusation of terror propaganda according to the Turkish Anti-Terror Act, Article 7/2. The public prosecutor proposes imprisonment extending to 7.5 years. The number of academics with indictments is increasing day by day, and their trials start on December 5, 2017.

    Since the petition, one of the most important acts of support for the academics who demanded peace has been the solidarity from colleagues who are not content with Turkey’s oppressive regime and its fatal actions on freedom of speech. In this new turn, we are well aware that we will need a stronger voice of resistance and call for justice! This solidarity can be through standing by us in the court hearings starting December 5, 2017, sending monitoring teams, observers, and news-makers; spreading the word and raising the awareness for what is happening now in Turkey regarding the academics.

    In order to stand in solidarity with the persecuted academics, we, the peace academics from North America, call on you to:

    1. Share and spread this call for solidarity; show your solidarity by following the trials, commenting on them in your blogs, social media and/or writing a news article. For more info on the latest attacks on academics in Turkey, please visit https://barisicinakademisyenler.net/ or http://mesana.org/pdf/Turkey20171017.pdf
    2. Contact bakuluslararasi@gmail.com if you want to attend the trials as an observer, or write to a human rights organization to send a delegate;
    3. Sign the petition https://academicboycottofturkey.wordpress.com/petition/ to support the targeted boycott on complicit universities in Turkey;
    4. Inform your professional organizations and university senate to take action against complicit institutions, such as The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK; tubitak.gov.tr/en);
    5. Support dismissed scholars financially by donating to the education union that supports them https://www.youcaring.com/academicsforpeaceinturkey-763983 “
  • FAQ on Solidarity with the Academics in Turkey

    FAQ on Solidarity with the Academics in Turkey

    Below are the 10 FAQs about the ‘what’s, ‘why’s and ‘how’s of the most recent call that we extend to the international academic community to support the academics in Turkey who have been encountering a variety of increasingly repressive measures just because they asked for peace.

     

    1- What is it now?

    Now, it is about the series of lawsuits against the academics on an individual basis. Because the academics had signed the Peace Petition that went public in January 2016 they are sued within the scope of the Law on Struggle Against Terror (TMK 7/2). Read The Bill of Indictment.

     

    2- Are the academics involved in any terroristic activities?

    No. The academics had just asked for peace. (Read the petition)

     

    3- Are all the signatories sued?

    No. As of November 20, 2017, less than 10% of the signatories (2212) were sued. But the fact that the number increases on a daily basis is telling about the state of affairs.

     

    4- So, is there a specific reason for the selection of certain signatory academics?

    No. It is totally arbitrary.

     

    5- Why is this happening in Turkey?

    This incessant repression on academics who stand for peace in Turkey is certainly related to the specificities of the political state of affairs in the country. But limitations on academic freedom is not restricted to Turkey. Different forms of authoritarianism are on the rise globally.

    Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur.

     

    6- Why should I care about the lawsuits against the academics in Turkey?

    Because they are your colleagues, and because their rights are violated.

    Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur.

     

    7- Why should I worry about it?

    Once the breach on academic freedom and/or freedom of speech is tolerated in any context academic freedom and/or freedom of speech comes under risk at a global level. So, the breach is everyone’s business, and the business of each of us.

    Mutato nomine, de te fabula narratur.

     

    8- How can I support?

    • Sign the boycott petition
    • Contact your colleagues, institutions, unions, rights-based organizations to publicize the truth about the facts of academic life in Turkey.
    • Monitor the lawsuits wherever and however you can.
    • Contact the relevant organizations to ensure that they monitor, too.
    • Financially support the peace academics through the existing solidarity campaign

     

    9- So, is there an optimistic scenario out of this?

    Continuing with growing solidarity is a reason for optimism on its own.

     

    10- Where can I get more information?

    You can email bakuluslararasi@gmail.com and read The Call for Solidarity of Peace Academics

  • Frequently Asked Questions

    Frequently Asked Questions

    by Simten Coşar

     

    1. What is Academics for Peace?

     

    Academics for Peace is a group of academics, mainly concerned with the escalation of the conflict between the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the PKK in Eastern Turkey, and in the scale of violence against civilian population in the region that has always been part of the same conflict. The group was formed by the pro-peace academics in 2012.

     

    1. What is the Peace Declaration?

     

    The Peace Declaration was a statement by the Academics for Peace against the escalation of violence against the Kurdish civilians in the Eastern part of Turkey, due to the rising tension in the conflict between the TAF and the PKK from July 2015 onwards. The Academics for Peace targeted to raise public awareness by directly calling on the Turkish government to take initiative to end the violence. The Declaration, entitled “We Will Not Be A Party To This Crime” (Bu Suça Ortak Olmayacağız) was opened for signature among the academics at national and international levels, and received widespread support at both levels. It was signed by 1128 academics worldwide.

     

    1. What is the significance of January 11, 2016 as a date?

    The Peace Declaration was shared with the general public through a press conference on January 11, 2016. From this date on rights violations against signatories have begun.

     

    As of September 24, 2016, rights violations against “Academics for Peace” employed in private and public universities are listed below:

     

    Public Private Total
    Dismissal* 59 33 92
    Resignation 7 7 14
    Forced Retirement 0 1 1
    Disciplinary Investigation 448 63 511
    Disciplinary investigations. Decision of the Investigation Committee: Dismissal from public service. Pending CoHE (YÖK) approval. 44 5 49
    Preventive suspension* 74 11 85
    Suspension from administrative duty 3 4 7
    Police custody 38 3 41
    Pre-trial detention** 2 2 4
    * Among Peace Petition signatories, 44 faculty members are removed and banned from public service. 1 PhD student who held teaching positions within the Ministry of National Education is suspended from public service. Also, at least 63 PhD students within the Faculty Training Program suffer from rights violations due to changes in the program by government decrees.

    ** 3 academics had to stay in pre-trial detention for 40 days and 1 for 22 days until they were released after the first court hearing.

    Source: https://barisicinakademisyenler.net/node/314

     

    1. So, were the signatories limited to the original group of the Academics for Peace?

     

    Certainly not! The original group of the Academics for Peace was composed of about 200 academics in Turkey. As of January 11, 2016, 1128 academics signed the Peace Declaration. From then on the rapid and persistent governmental measures taken against the signatories blurred the boundaries of the group. But in the general and widest sense all the signatories are now referred to as the Academics for Peace or as the academics asking for peace in the country.

     

    1. Was there any withdrawal from the Peace Declaration?

     

    Of course there were withdrawals due to the immediate and ever-increasing violation of rights of the academics after the Peace Declaration went public. Some signatories could not stand the rapid and rather harsh pressures by their universities; some could not stand the threats to their lives both on the campuses and in any sphere of their everyday life.

     

     

    1. So what is the exact up-to-date number of the signatory academics?

     

    Despite the withdrawals of signatures and never-ending and ever-increasing pressures, harassments, assaults on the signatory academics the number of the academics who signed the Peace Declaration increased to 2212 by the end of January 2016.

     

    1. So, is there an organization, which might be said to represent the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration?

     

    No, there is no organization, which might be said to represent the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration.

     

    1. Are the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration support any terrorist organizations?

     

    No, the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration do not support any terrorist organization.

     

    1. So, are the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration pushed to deal with and encounter the violation of academic rights and freedom on an individual basis?

     

    No, the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration do not have to encounter and endure the violation of academic rights and freedom on an individual basis. They are supported by the Education Union Workers (EĞİTİMSEN), as well as some other academic and/or research organizations at national and international levels.

     

    1. The supports at the national level are for the time being extended mainly in legal and financial terms—certainly insufficient, considering the persistent dismissals, suspensions and bans from public duty.
    2. The supports at the international level are basically through Scholars At Risk (SAR) and Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), as well as through individual efforts of universities abroad for temporary research and teaching positions. Moreover, many international academic and human rights organizations, including but not limited to the Middle East Studies Association, European Association for Middle East Studies, International Association for Media and Communication Research, International Association for Feminist Economics, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, European Trade Union Committee for Education have expressed their support to the Academics for Peace through press releases. More information about international support can be found here: http://internationalsolidarity4academic.tumblr.com/

     

     

     

    1. Are the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration PKK sympathizers?

     

    No, the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration cannot be categorized as PKK sympathizers.

     

     

    1. Are the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration sympathizers/followers and/or members of the (Fethullah) Gülen movement?

    No, the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration are not sympathizers/followers and/or members of the (Fethullah) Gülen movement.

     

    1. Is there any political stance that might define the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration?

     

    The only common political stance that the academics, who signed the Peace Declaration share is that they opt for peace in Turkey. Otherwise, they differ in terms of their political stance extending from leftists, to feminists, and to liberal-democrats. But the leftists and feminists make up the majority of the signatory academics.

     

    1. What can be done?

    A lot can be done.

    Some possible forms of support are listed by Chad Kautzer here:

     

    • Investigate whether your institution can temporarily host or hire an academic currently at risk in Turkey. Some institutions do this directly and some work with third-party organizations, such as Scholars at Risk [https://www.scholarsatrisk.org]. Your institution can also become a member of the Scholars at Risk Network, supporting their work through annual membership dues.
    • Review any academic or financial relations between your institution and academic institutions in Turkey. These might include joint research projects, grants, or faculty and student exchanges. Such relations can be used as leverage to pressure institutions in Turkey to respect academic freedom.
    • Use the resources of your institution and the public platforms available to you to disseminate knowledge about the plight of academics in Turkey. This could involve, for example, organizing talks, exhibitions, and press conferences, or producing films and publications.
    • Organize and participate in political actions and lobbying campaigns directed at Turkish officials and/or officials in your own government. This might be a protest at the Turkish Embassy, making phone calls, or something more creative. Academics for Peace, for example, has a campaign [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lnv0iMroEBU-RTkskvy-8R1Yla_FdLYxfVVHIfd2Mg/edit] to send letters to university rectors in Turkey, asking them to reinstate academics fired for political reasons. It is particularly important to lobby officials in the United States and European Union member states, given their deep ties to the Turkish government.
    • Connect with others (both individuals and organizations) who care about this issue, so you can stay informed and motivated. Scholars at Risk, Amnesty International, and the Middle East Studies Association, to name just a few, have email alerts. Like Facebook pages that disseminate news about academics in Turkey and information about actions to support them, such as those of Research Institute on Turkey (RIT) [https://www.facebook.com/ResearchInstituteOnTurkey/?fref=ts] and International Solidarity with Academics in Turkey (ISAT) [https://www.facebook.com/International-Solidarity-with-Academics-in-Turkey-ISAT-1120304684703566/?pnref=story], which I recently created. ISAT also has an email list you can subscribe to by emailing academicsus@gmail.com.
    • Ask your college, university, professional organization, or union to publish a statement supporting academics in Turkey and send it to officials in Turkey and in your own government.

    Here is a letter from the Middle East Studies Association [http://mesana.org/about/board-lettersstatements.html#TurkishHigherEducation] that was endorsed by over 40 professional organizations. You can also create petitions and open letters for others to sign, as with this open letter to U.S. officials [https://goo.gl/N9XwBB] and this international petition [http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/the-purge-of-academic-institutions-in-Turkey] addressed to Turkish officials.

    • Sign the petitions and open letters. Although this is the easiest action to take, it is still important. These petitions and letters can: (a) communicate the depth and breadth of support to media outlets and government officials, (b) encourage academics in Turkey, and (c) serve as organizing tools to build political networks that facilitate future actions.

     

    But new proposals are more than welcome!