SIEF Statement In Support of Academics in Turkey

In two cabinet decrees issued in September and October 2016 within the context of the state of emergency rule, 68 signatories of the Peace Petition (“We will not be a party to this crime” – Academics for Peace, in January 2016) were deemed “supporters of terrorism”, dismissed from their posts and banned from public service. At least two of these are associated with SIEF and our sister organization AFS: Yücel Demirer and Derya Keskin-Demirer, who frequently attend SIEF meetings. They were dismissed from their positions at Kocaeli University along with 37 other faculty members without a hearing or right to appeal the decision. They are among 3,613 academics dismissed by Turkish authorities in the last three months.

The SIEF board expresses its solidarity with colleagues, students, friends, and the people of Turkey as well as its outrage over the Turkish government’s purge of Academics for Peace. We are dedicated to institutional autonomy and academic freedom for scholars and students worldwide and therefore view the actions taken against Turkey’s higher education sector in general with grave concern. We respectfully urge their reversal and suspension of further actions.

Further information about the “Academics for Peace” university purge and solidarity campaign: barisicinakademisyenler.net/English

Many universities have joined the Scholars at Risk network, which provides information on how to help: www.scholarsatrisk.org/