Dr. Fikret Baskaya, Professor of Economic Development and International Relations, and Founder and Chair of the Turkey and Middle East Forum Foundation, was charged with "Propagandizing for a Terrorist Organization" and is facing five years in prison. November 20, 2019 Recep Tayyip Erdogan President of Turkey Office of the President 06573 Basbakanlik Ankara, Turkey Fax: +90 312 ... Continue Reading>>
Our Work
Ayse Erzan, Retired Physics Professor at Istanbul Technical University and Xiaoxing Xi, a Chinese-born American Physicist and Former Chair of the Physics Department at Temple University Received the American Physical Society’s 2020 Andrei Sakharov Prize
Ayse Erzan was a signer of the Peace Petition in Turkey and wrongfully indicted. She has been involved in the peace and women’s movements. Upon notice of having received the reward Dr. Erzan commented that she felt the award was not really for her, but more for the struggles of the Academics for Peace. Dr. Erzan has been actively involved in assisting academics who have been, like herself, ... Continue Reading>>
European Union Awards Sakharov Prize to Uyghur Economist Ilham Tohti
On October 24, 2019 the European Union awarded its highest human rights award to Ilham Tohti - The 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Tohti advocated greater autonomy for the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 on “separatism” charges. The President of the European Parliament noted that since 2017 over 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in internment camps ... Continue Reading>>
Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics Issued Statement On the Arrest and Charges Against Russian Rocket Scientist, Victor Kudryavtsev
The Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics issued a statement on the arrest and charges against Russian rocket scientist, Victor Kudryavtsev which provides a detailed account of the TRANSHYBERIAN project with Russia. The recently released statement notes that they "could not find any trace of disclosing secret information by the team of Dr. Kudryavtsev in the context of the project”. ... Continue Reading>>
17 Scholars, from Meliksah University in Turkey, Sentenced To Maximum of 11 Years in Prison
In the aftermath of the attempted coup in 2016, many universities in Turkey were closed leaving staff with no jobs and students with no available schooling. Many staff members of these schools were charged for “supporting a terrorist organization." Meliksah University was one of those involved. On August 15, 2016 arrest warrants were issued for 100 members of their staff. Sixty-three were ... Continue Reading>>
Lecturer at Rift Valley University in Ethiopia Arrested for Assistance in Writing Book Critical of the Ethiopian Government
Dr. Firew Bekele has been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation accused of writing a book critical of the government. Bekele denies writing it but acknowledges helping with writing it. Being detained in this regard is a violation of his human rights to free expression and speech. CCS has written to the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, ... Continue Reading>>
Iranian Students Entering US for School Year Turned Away
Many Iranian students who had been accepted to US universities for the school year were turned away by Homeland Security when they arrived at airports to travel to the US for school for this current year. ... Continue Reading>>
CCS Co-Chair Pens an Op-Ed About Tashpolat Tiyip, Uighur Scholar Secretly Tried and Sentenced to Death in China
He was a world-famous Uighur academic, but China sentenced him to death anyway by Eugene Chudnovsky | October 14, 2019 03:39 PM Tashpolat Tiyip, president of Xinjiang University and one of China’s best-known geographers, was last seen at a Beijing airport in spring 2017 on his way to the opening of a research center in Germany. On that day he disappeared without a ... Continue Reading>>
Pakistan Academic Still Incarcerated for Blasphemy for the Past Five Years
Junaid Hafeez has been confined in solitary confinement for the past 5 years on a charge of blasphemy for posting he made on Facebook. He is in danger while confined - so much so that his first attorney was murdered for defending him, threatened by the prosecutor of the case. The case has been continued and transferred from one court to another for the past five years. CCS has written the ... Continue Reading>>
Former Rector of Canik Basari University Awaiting Trial in Turkey
Yunus Bekdemir was the former founder of Canik Başarı (Success or Achievement) University and arrested for “membership of an armed terrorist organization” and “opposition to the law on the prevention of financing of terrorism” on September 23, 2016. His university was closed as one of the 15 universities that were closed after the failed coup. At the Samsun 3rd Peace Court of Criminal Jurisdiction ... Continue Reading>>