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Scholars Who Signed Petition Detained in Turkey, Many Dismissed from Jobs

January 21, 2016

Turkish authorities rounded up scholars who signed a petition requesting the military to stop their behavior towards the Kurdish community in the south eastern part of the country.  Universities also began dismissing the professors who had signed the petition.  Those detained have now been released but they do face investigation and possible arrest.  Many have already been dismissed from their university positions.

January 22, 2016

Recep Tayyip Erdogan
President
Republic of Turkey
Cumhurbaskanligi Genel Sekreterligi Yurutme ve Koordinasyon Baskanligi
06689 Cankaya
Ankara, Republic of Turkey

Dear President Erdogan:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.

We have learned that Turkish authorities have detained and begun investigations of Turkish academics that peacefully expressed their opinion about Turkish military campaigns in the Southeast. An incomplete list of academics that are facing dismissal from their university positions and criminal prosecution is attached.

This action of Turkish authorities constitutes a violation of freedom of speech as protected under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Turkey is a signatory: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.”

To remain in the eyes of scholars worldwide as a nation that respects human rights and academic freedom, Turkey has to immediately stop criminal proceedings against academics that exercised their right to free speech. Administrations of universities to which these academics belong should stop their investigations immediately and reinstate any faculty who have been dismissed or face condemnation by the international community.

Sincerely,

Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich,
Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer

Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

List of Detained Turkish Scholars

Released, but under investigation for arrest and/or dismissal from their universities

From Kocaeli University – Kocaeli
Associate Professor Aynur Özuğurlu
Associate Professor Burcu Yakut Çakar
Assistant Professor Derya Keskin
Associate Professor Gül Koksal
Associate Professor Güven Bakırezer
Associate Professor Hakan Koçak
Assistant Professor Hülya Kendir
Professor Kuvvet Lordoğlu
Professor Mehmet Cengiz Erçin
Assistant Professor Mehmet Rauf Kesici
Assistant Professor Mehmet Ruhi Demiray
Professor Nilay Etiler
Professor Onur Hamzaoğlu
Associate Professor Özlem Özkan
Professor Ümit Biçer
Professor Veli Deniz
Associate Professor Yücel Demirer
Professor Zelal Ekinci

From Uludag University – Bursa
Associate Professor Gokhan Yavuz
Associate Professor Sule Akkose Aydin
Research Assistant Aylin Caki

From Abant Izzet Baysal University – Bolu
Assistant Professor Ülkü Güney
Dr. Selime Güzelsarı
Professor Barış Bora Kilicbay

From Hakkari University – Hakkari
Ümran Roda Suvağcı

From Düzce University – Düzce
Associate Professor Latife Akyüz

From Erzurum University – Erzurum
Research Assistant Ramazan Kurt

From Bulent Ecevit University – Zonguldak
Assistant Professor Oznur Oncul

From Giresun University – Giresun
Associate Professor Dilek Ozhan Kocak

Related Articles

  • Academics arrested, threatened for signing a petition (universityworldnews.com)

Filed Under: Turkey Tagged With: Academics, Human Rights, Turkey, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Honorary Board Members

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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