Academics and Scientists Severely Affected by Attempted Coup in Turkey

July 26, 2016

On July 15, 2016 a fraction of the Turkish military attempted to seize power from democratically elected leaders. Turkish citizens went to the streets and protested en masse. The democracy was saved but two hundred innocent people had died and over a thousand were injured. The Turkish government declared a state of emergency and began purging Turkish institutions from elements allegedly connected to the plotters of the coup. Concerns have been raised that a large number of Turkish academics and scientists have been punished without due process.

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an organization of scientists, physicians and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of colleagues around the world.

Protecting scholars and the freedom to think, question and share ideas

SAR urges expression of support for Turkey’s threatened higher education sector

Posted July 19, 2016

July 19, 2016—Scholars at Risk is gravely concerned about sweeping actions against Turkey’s higher education sector, including forced resignations, suspensions, and travel bans, reportedly affecting thousands of individuals, in Turkey and abroad.

The scale and speed of these actions belie any due process or evidence-based response to the attempted coup of July 15^th, and therefore raise serious concerns for the future of Turkey’s higher education and society generally.

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Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

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

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Honorary Board Members

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Former Honorary Board Members

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh

Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University

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

Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York

Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University

Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*

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

* Nobel laureate