Crackdown, which has snagged associates of imam Fethullah Gulen and others, is designed to remake country’s higher education in president’s image
We must keep in mind that as academics we are at our best, not when we agree to disagree, but exactly when we disagree to agree.
As the Turkish government continues to arrest academics across the country, with little to no judicial oversight, Turkish academia finds itself cast back into the murky uncertainty of the 1980s, and the subsequent censorship and disappearances.
Assoc. Professor Dr. Kemal Inal from Gazi University, who was threatened while signing the Academics for Peace declaration and then removed his signature, and signee Professor Dr. Ali Çeliksöz from Cumhuriyet University said they don’t know the reasons behind their decisions to be suspended.
Of the signees of the Academics for Peace “We Will Not Be a Party to this Crime” declaration, two academics at Gazi University and three academics at Cumhuriyet University were suspended.
Last week, the Marxist historian Candan Badem of Tunceli University was taken into custody, accused of involvement in the attempted military coup in Turkey. A book by Fethullah Gulen that was found in his office was used as evidence linking Badem with the Gulen movement, which the Turkish president has accused of being behind the attempted coup. Although Badem was released the next day, he is reportedly still under judicial control.
A crackdown on Turkey’s higher education sector is hurting international academic collaborations and student and scholar exchanges.
After the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, one of the first actions of the Turkish state and government was to purge thousands of academics and deans from office.
In a crackdown that rapidly spread across civil and military services, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the closure of thousands of private schools and many universities. Some 15,000 employees at the education ministry were fired, while more than 1,500 university deans were asked to resign.
The British Academy, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh deplore the attempted military coup d’état in Turkey. In keeping with the democratic principles which have been secured, we urge that the state’s responses towards individuals and offices thought to be involved be fully compliant with the rules and norms of democratic government, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights. We are particularly concerned that these be observed in relation to the academic and research community in Turkey, where our sister academies have unequivocally condemned the coup. We are disturbed to hear that in the coup’s aftermath the Turkish Government has asked over 1,500 university deans to resign, and has placed a ban on all academics travelling abroad. Freedom of expression, due process, and the free mobility of researchers provide the bedrock of the academic endeavour in a democratic society
The Middle East Studies Association, American Anthropological Association, Executive Committee of the American Comparative Literature Association, American Council of Learned Societies, American Studies Association, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, European Association for Middle Eastern Studies, German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), German Studies Association, International Center for Medieval Art, Latin American Studies Association, Linguistic Society of America, The Medieval Academy of America, Modern Language Association, National Communication Association, and Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association collectively note with profound concern the apparent moves to dismantle much of the structure of Turkish higher education through purges, restrictions, and assertions of central control, a process begun earlier this year and accelerating now with alarming speed.
Suite aux évènements du 15 juillet, le ministère turc de l’Education a entrepris une véritable « purge », il vient en effet d’annoncer la suspension de plus de 15 000 de ses employés « soupçonnés d’être liés au prédicateur Fethullah Gülen ». On y apprend également que 1 577 doyens d’universités sont suspendus ! Coup de grâce porté à l’enseignement supérieur et à la recherche turque, on apprend aujourd’hui que les universitaires ne sont désormais plus autorisés à voyager.
20 July 2016 | last updated: 21 July 2016
UCU has called on the Turkish authorities to end violations of academic freedom following mass sackings and calls for resignations from the country's education system.
