INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY

You are invited to show one-hour’s academic solidarity in your university’s winter or spring term 2017

Dear colleagues,

As you will be aware, populist, nationalist, and racist movements are rising all around the world. One year has passed since 2212 scholars, known as Academics for Peace in Turkey, signed the petition called ‘We will not be a party to this crime’, addressing the human rights violations and massacres in the war waged against the Kurds in Turkey, and submitted it to the Turkish Parliament. During this one-year, many of our professors, colleagues, and students have been targeted by the Turkish state and its organs, including the Higher Education Authority (YOK) in charge of universities. After the military coup attempt in July 2016, tens of thousands of teachers, scholars, journalists and artists were dismissed from their public positions through emergency decrees, their passports were cancelled or confiscated, and some were detained. A state of emergency was declared, and since then, 312 of the Academics for Peace were dismissed from their university positions through emergency decrees. This means being barred from working in both public and private sectors as well as in civil society for life, as well as from using their academic titles. The passports of these academics and their spouses were also confiscated. Departments known for their oppositional tendencies were dismantled and students` rights to education have been irreparably violated. The number of signatories of the peace petition who lost their jobs through dismissal, forced resignation and forced retirement has now reached 400 with the latest emergency decree law.

Within this framework, as the Academics for Peace Germany, France, and the UK collectives, we invite you to show solidarity with our colleagues in Turkey. Regardless of your discipline, we urge you to spare one hour of your lectures in your university’s winter or spring term 2017, for a discussion around what is happening in Turkey, as well as around the themes of nationalism, the rising populism in Europe, and racist and/or totalitarian regimes. We believe that with your support, we can raise awareness about the severity of the situation from the perspectives of different disciplines.

Academics for Peace – Germany
Academics for Peac – France
Accademics for Peace – UK

Please find below the articles published in international journals and papers about the current circumstances in Turkey and struggle of the Academics for Peace. This is a preliminary “bibliography” of the issue which will be and can be updated in the course of time and of course with your support.

English:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38950906?ocid=socialflow_twitter

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20170209130103311

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/academic-freedom-turkey-theresa-may-has-choice-make

https://tr.boell.org/de/2017/01/18/academics-peace-academics-solidarity

https://thewire.in/99840/turkey-fascism-erdogan-kurdish/

German:

http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2016-01/meinungsfreiheit-tuerkei-festnahmen-petition

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/tuerkische-chronik-xxvi-sie-wollen-alle-fremdkoerper-entfernen-1.3371146

http://www.forschung-und-lehre.de/wordpress/?p=22090#more-22090

* Link of rights violations against “Academics for Peace”

* Please tell us if there are any ideas about creating solidarity that come up in the discussions, via email: bak.almanya@gmail.com; bakfrance1128@gmail.com; academicsforpeace.org.uk