Committee of Concerned Scientists

An international non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.

An independent non-profit organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars dedicated to protecting the human rights and scientific freedom of our colleagues around the world.
You are here: Home / CCS Cases / Turkey / Gulmen Granted Conditional Release, Ozakca Acquitted – Turkish Professor and Teacher Who Had Been on a Hunger Strike After Termination of Employment

Gulmen Granted Conditional Release, Ozakca Acquitted – Turkish Professor and Teacher Who Had Been on a Hunger Strike After Termination of Employment

Nuriye Gulmen a 35-year old Turkish literature professor lost her job after the Turkish coup attempt and began a 269-day hunger strike with her spouse who had also been terminated as a teacher. Gulmen had been hospitalized before her trial began as her health had seriously deteriorated. She was sentenced to six years and three months in prison for “membership in an armed terror group,” referring to a left wing militant group. The court granted her conditional release and she was freed from the hospital where she was held in custody.

Her spouses, Semih Ozakca, was released from prison at an earlier hearing and was acquitted.

There was a third defendant, Acun Karadag, who was also acquitted.

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 – 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

National Sponsors

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

Pierre Hohenberg, New York University

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

National Sponsors

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber, 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