Hi critters, just wanted to draw your attention to the following, an opportunity to intervene in reality and help others.
Thank you!
Yara
Urgent Call for Solidarity!
Members of “Academics for Peace” and Education and Science Workers Union
(EğitimSEN)
have been removed from their positions in public higher education
institutions permanently!
In January 2016, 2,218 scholars from Turkey signed a petition titled “We will not be a party to
this crime,” also known as the Peace Petition. Since then the signatories (“Academics for
Peace”) have been subject to heavy pressure and persecution. Hund reds of them have faced
criminal and disciplinary investigations, custody, imprisonment, or violent threats. Several
academics have been dismissed or suspended, some were forced to resign or leave the
country.
Turkey experienced a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, and the Turkish government holds
the religious group led by the US resident cleric Fethullah Gülen responsible. After the coup
attempt, the Government and university administrations have continued targeting the
Academics for Peace with the pretext of purging Gülen affiliated individuals from public service.
The latest mass purge came late at night on Thursday, September 1, 2016 via a cabinet decree
within the context of the state of emergency rule. More than 41 Peace Petition signatories were
deemed “supporters of terrorism” and banned from public service, alongside more than 40,000
public service employees. Note that many of the signatories have already been under
administrative investigations for signing the Peace Petition for months, without a conclusion.
The dismissal of the signatories overnight with a fait accompli of a State of Emergency decree
is a serious violation of their basic human right to fair trial and due process. Dismissed under the
conditions of state of emergency, they will neither be able to appeal the decision nor work in
public sector for a lifetime; their passports will also be revoked.
This latest attempt to purge Academics for Peace by linking them to coup plotters is outrageous
and unacceptable. Government of Turkey is taking advantage of the State of Emergency rule to
crack down all critical voices, including those who have no relation to the Gülen organization or
the coup attempt. We urgently demand that our colleagues get reinstated to their positions and
have their employee rights fully restored.
Please disseminate our call for solidarity in your networks. Ask your college, university,
professional organization, or union to publish a statement in support of academics in Turkey,
and send it to government and university officials in Turkey.
Academics for Peace
Contact Information for Your Reference:
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
Office of Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara, Turkey
Administrative Aide, Ozel Kalem Mudurlugu Fax: ++90 312 403 62 82
Public Relations Department Fax: ++ 90 312 422 26 67
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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanı (President of Turkey)
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İsmail Kahraman
Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Başkanı (President of the Turkish National Grand Assembly)
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Bekir Bozdağ
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Adalet Bakanı (Justice Minister of the Republic of Turkey)
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Yekta Saraç
Türkiye Yüksek Öğretim Kurulu (YÖK) Başkanı (President of the Council of Higher Education)
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011 90 312 266 47 59
İsmet Yılmaz
Milli Eğitim Bakanı (Minister of National Education)
Atatürk Bulvarı No: 98 06650 Bakanlıklar Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 312 4188289, +90 (312) 417 70 27
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Dr Yara Evans
School of Geography
Queen Mary
University of London
London E1 4NS
http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/staff/evansy.html
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