Scientists, Dissent and Academic Freedom

The revolt of June 2013 that saw massive rallies against AKP rule in major urban centers across the country signals a new stage in the fight for freedom of expression in Turkey. For the scientific community the protests represent both a moment of crystallization for ongoing struggles in support of  scientific independence and a venue for protesting against government’s repression of free research.

Since Erdoğan government crushed the independence of Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) in November 2011 with a regulation that gives the government the power to appoint two thirds of its members, 120 out of 150 TÜBA members have resigned. In an interview in Science one of the founding members and President of the newly-formed Science Academy astrophysicist Mehmet Ali Alpar gives the background of pressures on research and scientists’ participation in protests at Gezi Park.

Direct and indirect forms of heavy-handed intervention through funding blocks and censorship have been especially pronounced in the anti-evolution bias of AKP government. Coupled with policies that take away the regulatory and environmental oversight powers of professional associations, most importantly the associations of engineers and architects, these authoritarian policies have provided a powerful impetus for the transformation of protests into a fight for academic freedom, as this article in Science sketches.

A symptom of government’s previous attacks on scientific neutrality as well as a moment of infamy in June protests were police attacks on medical personnel providing emergency assistance for protestors, as an August 7 editorial in BMJ draws attention, a copy of which is available here.

Scientists Call Turkish Government to Obey International Law

In a correspondence published in Science, twenty-five scientists including four Nobel laureates, urged Turkish government to treat peaceful protesters according to international law.

A press conference held at New School University in NY City on July 18 that was initiated by Turkish Medical Association, Physicians for Human Rights and GIT – NA announced the publication of this piece and provided a forum for discussing the background of Gezi protests as well as government’s violent reaction. A video excerpt from the press conference is available here.

As the organizers of the press conference made clear in a clarification note, the press statement released regarding the press conference was only binding  for the organizing entities and individuals of the press conference.

Escalation of Repression – Faculty of New School Calls upon AKP Government to Cease Measures Reminiscent of a “State of Emergency”

As İsmail Saymaz and Fatih Yağmur report in Turkish daily Radikal, members of the umbrella NGO Taksim Solidarity were on July 11 charged with belonging to an illegal organization, inciting the public to uprising, insulting the police, occupying Gezi Park and thereby preventing public use of the Park.  The charges specifically refer to presidents, secretaries and spokespersons of Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, Urban Planners’ Chamber, Istanbul Medical Association, as well as officials of trade unions, diverse NGOs and political parties. Police reports filed with the court also claim that Taksim Solidarity used Facebook, Twitter and news websites to call the population of Istanbul to Gezi Park for protests and thereby presented a grave threat to public order.

Gezi Park remains under police blockade since June 16 – albeit for a brief window of a few hours on July 8 during which the Park was officially opened before it was closed to prevent the public from entering Gezi. The charges directed at participants of Gezi protests and the growing number of arrests give an indication of the escalation of AKP government’s repression with extra-legal means. This escalation is only the latest stage of a uniform trend of violation of basic rights that is under way since the start of Gezi Resistance. 

Below we publish an open letter that Faculty of New School for Social Research sent to President Abdullah Gül on July 1.

Your Excellency,

We write to you to express our grave concern regarding the developments in Turkey in connection with the popular protests that began with the protection of trees in Gezi Park in Taksim. As a result of unexpectedly harsh police repression, these protests soon grew to encompass widespread grievances about government intrusion into different forms and values of life and to express the democratic demands of the masses. These demands include greater transparency and popular participation in processes of decision-making about urban restructuring plans and reforms, better accountability of political leaders and bureaucrats, the protection of fundamental rights, and the speedy and effective public prosecution of members of the security forces, whose use of excessive and targeted force on peaceful protestors has scandalized the global public.

As current faculty of the New School for Social Research, which was founded as a home for scholars who became refugees of Nazi rule in Europe and who were known to the world as the “University in Exile,” we are proud to maintain a sincere and ongoing commitment to fostering democracy around the world, the freedom of speech and protest, and the free exchange of ideas. We see this commitment as the constituent element of our history and identity as a research institution that cultivates the highest standards of scholarship as well as the ethos of public engagement and active citizenship.

In this light, we are deeply concerned about the news from Turkey regarding the violent suppression of protestors, the arbitrary detention of individuals on grounds such as participation in peaceful demonstrations, use of social media, provision of volunteer medical care to the wounded protestors, or exercise of legal representation or counsel, and the pre-emptive labelling of peaceful protestors as “terrorists” by members of the government. We consider the wave of arbitrary detentions, some of which remain incommunicado, as a serious violation of the constitutional right of citizens in a democratic country to express their grievances and opinions in a peaceful way. The real test of a democracy is not only how it builds consensus among a plurality of values, different opinions, and interests, but also, and more importantly, how it treats dissent.

As faculty of the New School, we condemn police brutality and ask that those responsible for giving the orders as well as those executing the orders for the use of excessive force be immediately brought to justice. We denounce in the strongest possible terms the making of threats and intimidations toward individuals who exercise or plan to exercise their right of civil disobedience and toward those who shelter protestors from pressured water, tear gas, and rubber bullets. We ask for an immediate end to the detention of individuals who have done nothing other than participate in peaceful demonstrations. We call upon the government to cease its polarizing and demonizing rhetoric and its resort to measures reminiscent of a “state of emergency” in which citizens are treated like enemies. We encourage the adoption of a conciliatory public discourse as well as the active promotion of measures that enhance democracy, both through the decrease of the 10 per cent national electoral threshold and the creation of new, local channels for direct participation.

We express our deepest condolences for the four citizens of Turkey who have lost their lives in the recent events and our sympathies for those who have lost their eyes, suffer broken limbs, and endure other serious injuries. We are saddened by the thousands of people who have reported human rights abuses and physical injuries, and we are worried about those who face legal persecution on the seriously dubitable charges of terrorism and organized crime. We trust that Turkey will emerge a better and more democratic country from this experience but see that such an outcome will be possible only if the current situation is considered to be an opportunity to affirm fundamental rights and liberties, the legitimacy of peaceful disagreement and organized dissent, and the illegitimacy of the deployment of arbitrary violence, detention, and intimidation tactics by the state upon its own people. We appeal to your office to support our call.

Best regards,

Faculty of the New School for Social Research

New York City, NY, USA

Signatures: Elaine Abelson, Zed Adams, Andrew Arato, Cinzia Arruzza, Banu Bargu, Tarak Barkawi, Jay M. Bernstein, Richard J. Bernstein, Omri Boehm, Chiara Bottici, Christopher Christian, Alice Crary, Simon Critchley, Stefania deKenessey, Oz Frankel, Nancy Fraser, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Orit Halpern, Lawrence A. Hirschfeld, Bill Hirst, Andreas Kalyvas, Paul Kottman, Benjamin Lee, Arien Mack, Elzbieta Matynia, Inessa Medzhibovskaya, William Milberg, Joan Miller, Dmitri Nikulin, Julia Ott, Timothy Pachirat, Ross Poole, Christian R. Proaño, Hugh Raffles, Janet Roitman, Lisa Rubin, Willi Semmler, Anwar Shaikh, Ann-Louise Shapiro, Rachel Sherman, Ann L. Stoler, Jenifer Tally, Miriam Ticktin, Kumaraswamy Velupillai, Ken Wark, Eli Zaretsky

Speaking up against Erdogan's Violence

In the wake of the brutal evacuation of Gezi Park on PM Erdoğan’s orders, members of GIT working group continue to direct the spotlight on AKP government’s violent reaction to expressions of dissent. 

Jeffrey Gibbs debunks facile reports of Gezi Resistance and gives an account of the brutal police attack on June 15 in the Boston Review. Aslı Iğsız traces the connections between the repression of Gezi and Erdoğan government’s long-standing policies curtailing the freedoms of  students, faculty and academic institutions in her overview in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Below GIT North America also presents the English translation of the statement “Erdoğan’s Autocratic Vertigo” our colleagues in GIT France published in Libération.

Erdoğan’s Autocratic Vertigo

The night of June 15, 2013, when the police showed a raging violence against the many peaceful demonstrators in Istanbul, will go down in Turkey’s history as a tragic tipping point. The repeated scenes of tear gas clouds, thousands injured and numerous arrests, have now been added to recent law violations that would not be tolerated in a state of war: the bombardment of gas in enclosed spaces, such as private apartments and tourist hotels; hospitals and mobile medical centers attacked, in addition to injured and arrested doctors; journalists harassed; and many reported cases of skin burns following the use of chemical agents in water cannons.

Along with this massive and systematic state violence, peaceful demonstrations were threatened by armed supporters of the AKP party who engaged in street-fighting, thereby establishing an atmosphere of civil war in the most central districts of Istanbul. And yet, for 19 days, Gezi Park showed a remarkable experience of democracy where civil society was present in all its variety: organizations of architects and planners who were early opposers of the devastating urban politics of Prime Minister Erdoğan and the mayor of Istanbul rubbed shoulders with student associations, feminists, as well as working class people in the neighborhoods threatened with destruction. It is false to claim, as some press correspondents have done, that this large, unprecedented response by such a multitude of people is only a revolt of Kemalist and extreme nationalist groups, despite the fact that numerous opposition groups joined the cause.

Rather than hearing the citizens’ protest – a plea to participate in decisions regarding their space and way of life and a rejection of the government’s increasingly authoritarian way of ruling – Erdogan chose to disregard them and to force their hand. Since its last term, the AKP has continued to attack the scope of individual and social freedoms, and the Prime Minister has preferred to engage in provocation by calling the protesters thugs, drunks and terrorists. However, the civil society has established for weeks its indignation at the recurring violations of its rights: Gezi Park was the breaking point after a long period during which the citizens of Turkey have felt ignored, scorned and attacked by the current government with its Prime Minister at the head. Political demonstrations, especially the celebration of May 1st, were prohibited in Taksim Square under the pretext of renovation work, mass arrests have been carried out in order to criminalize any kind of opposition, the Uludere and Reyhanlı massacres have not been elucidated, major civil rights have been questioned (including the right to abortion), multiple damage to the environment, culture and diversity of lifestyle choices have created an atmosphere of legitimate indignation.

In a rejection of this climate of repression, the citizens of Turkey, unarmed, came out massively in the streets and confronted armored police. In response to the government’s reaction to this event, we ask: How does one legitimize a government who has launched in a period of two weeks more than 150,000 gas grenades on its own people, injuring more than 5,000 of them and killing at least three, and who is now stating that any demonstrator found in the Taksim Square will be held as a terrorist - as announced by Mr Egemen Bağış, Minister for European Affairs? How is a government legitimate with a new bill proposing to extend the scope of the secret services who are already authorized to make arrests without court approval, while the same government boasted about having removed the army’s security privileges? How does one continue to accept as a legitimate partner a government that openly declares that it no longer recognizes the decisions of the European Parliament and no longer complies with the international treaties it has signed? What kind of democracy exists in a country where the media are forced into silence – where journalists are fired or driven to self-censorship for fear of losing their jobs, and the Turkish people are forced to watch international news channels to monitor events taking place in their own country? In what lawful country do the police arrest lawyers protesting peacefully inside the courthouse and take into custody doctors treating men and women injured in clashes with the police? What legitimacy can this government still have when on Sunday, June 16, it prevents by extreme force the gathering of protesters in Taksim, while the mayor of Istanbul massively mobilizes free transport to get AKP supporters to the meeting of their leader?

Because of Erdoğan’s paranoia, where he sees foreign spies and international conspiracies wherever his people peacefully defend their rights (for example: the claim that beer vendors, Erasmus students, “International Finance”, the “Jewish lobby” and the Western media disseminating information on police violence, are all responsible for organizing the protests of hundreds of thousands of people) – the international community must act now. The government of Prime Minister Erdoğan loses legitimacy in every manifestation of police violence and in every violation of international conventions or treaties. All friends of a free and democratic Turkey must work alongside this country’s civil society so that Erdoğan’s vertiginous autocracy does not create another dictatorship in the Middle East.

Deniz Akagul, maître de conférences à l’Université de Lille ; Salih Akın, maître de conférences à l’Université de Rouen ; Samim Akgönül, maître de conférences à l’Université de Strasbourg ; Marc Aymes, chargé de cherchées au CNRS ; Faruk Bilici, professeur à l’INALCO ; Isabelle Backouche, maître de conférences à l’EHESS ; Hamit Bozarslan, directeur d’études à l’EHESS ; Etienne Copeaux, historien de Turquie ; Dominique Colas, professeur à l’IEP de Paris ; Pierre Dardot, philosophe ; Yves Déloye, professeur à l’Université Paris 1 ; Vincent Duclert, chercheur à l’EHESS (CESPRA) ; François Georgeon, directeur de recherches au CNRS ; Béatrice Giblin, professeure à l’Université Paris 8 ; Diana Gonzalez, enseignante au Science-Po Paris ; Ragip Ege, professeur à l’Université de Strasbourg ; Jean-Louis Fabiani, directeur d’études à l’EHESS ; Dalita Hacyan, maître de conférences à l’Université de Paris 1 ; Yasemin Inceoğlu, professeure à l’Université de Galatasaray; Christian Laval, professeur à l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre ;  Monique de Saint-Martin, directrice d’études à l’EHESS ; Emine Sarikartal, éditrice ; Nora Seni, professeur à l’Université Paris 8 ; Hélène Piralian, psychanalyste ; Alican Tayla, chercheur à l’IRIS ; Ferhat Taylan, directeur de programme au CIPH ; Sezin Topçu, chargée de recherche au CNRS ; Murat Yıldızoğlu, professeur à l’Université de Bordeaux.

Letter of Complaint Regarding Hate Speech and Racist Behavior by Ahmet Atan, Yildiz Technical University, Chair of the Arts Department*

Dear Madam/Sir, 

We are writing to report the unacceptable racist behavior shown by Ahmet Atan,** who, according to his own website, is the president of the Turkey chapter of the World’s Academy of Arts “New Era.”  We are a group of academics and scientists in the United States who research, work, and critically engage with issues regarding  freedom of academic and journalistic research in Turkey and the liberties of association and publishing thereof. 

On June 16, 2013, Mr. Atan sent three tweets via his twitter account, of which a screen capture has been taken.

In the third tweet, which he proceeded to delete later on, he states: 

"If you are Jewish, Armenian or Greek, I would understand your active participation in the Gezi Park protests. Please research your racial genealogy."

According to another website, http://dunyasanatlarakademisiturkiye.blogspot.de/, it appears that, besides representing your academy in Turkey, Mr. Atan was also awarded the "Artist of the Year 2013" by your institution.

Please pursue this case as you see fit. We also kindly request that you keep us informed of your actions regarding the racist comments of your member and conferee. We are hoping that the World’s Academy of Arts “New Era,” in accordance with its Statute of Titles 4.3, in case "an Academy’s conferee commits an act (or shows inaction) that discredits the Academy’s reputation," will denounce this kind of behavior, and make a public declaration of Mr. Atan’s exclusion from membership.

We are looking forward to hearing from you on this matter by July 01, 2013. In case the deadline passes with no veritable action on your part, we feel that it is our responsibility to inform the Jewish, Armenian and Greek communities in Turkey and other Art Academies globally about Mr. Atan's unacceptable behavior and your condoning inaction hereto.

Thank you in advance for your inquiries in this matter. Kind regards,

GIT- North America, 
Transnational Work Group on Academic Liberty and Freedom of Research in Turkey
http://gitamerica.blogspot.com/

*GIT-NA would like to thank friends who have brought this matter into our attention. We have sent an electronic mail with the above content to the World’s Academy of Arts “New Era," and we urge our readers to follow suit. They can be reached at info@artnewera.com
**There is also an important petition calling for Ahmet Atan's disposition from the faculty.

Listening to Taksim

As resistance to the unprecedented police violence unleashed by Erdogan’s government against the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression continues in Turkey, the original scale of the resistance movement that crystallized into being on May 31, 2013 has mushroomed in lightning speed. What began as the protection struggle of Gezi Park in Taksim Square has now evolved into demonstrations of solidarity in several squares and streets of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other provinces.

One uniting feature of these public demonstrations is their inclusiveness of multiple currents of opposition to PM Tayyip Erdogan’s rule. Yet the roots and forms of Taksim revolt are both complex and evolving. As GIT North America newsfeeds resume, we present analytical snapshots taken by members of GIT – NA working group regarding this historically novel stage of resistance to ruling party AKP’s suppression of freedoms of expression.

Gülay Türkmen-Dervişoğlu traces the moment of formation of resistance at Gezi Park and the coalition behind the protest in Open Democracy. Evren Savcı highlights the social context of opposition to AKP’s neoliberal policies in Jadaliyya. The focus of Umut Özge’s critical contribution to Open Democracy is the simplistic templates often used in mainstream media to understand the emerging resistance in Turkey. 

In a stark contrast to the censorship prevalent in Turkish TV during the first days of the protests and truncated images of civil unrest in international media, Ariel Salzmann conveys the diversity of Taksim revolt and its emerging contribution to an expansion of civil discourse in her live interview at Canadian main news network CTV News. Similarly, Ayça Çubukçu underscores the promise of Taksim as an experimentation with direct democracy in an interview toward the end of a BBC Two news report (provided as a Youtube link here to facilitate global access).

If one aim of GIT – NA is to produce and give an overview of critical research regarding repression of freedom of thought, another aim is to listen to the voices of resistance to this repression and to bear witness as the starting point of research. These voices are indeed multiple. For a glimpse into their multiplicity and coherence you can read the statement that Taksim Solidarity, the umbrella group of numerous rights and political organizations, issued to the public and presented to the government on June 5.

GIT-North America Condemns Police Brutality in Ongoing Nationwide Rallies in Turkey

Dr. Burak Ünveren, a member of Department of Economics at Yıldız Teknik University and Selim Gören, a student of the same department lost one of their eyes after being shut by a tear gas canister fired by the Turkish riot police. Burak and Selim are among many, who were seriously injured by tear gas and water cannons directed against protestors in the ongoing anti-government rallies in Turkey. The protests began as a reaction to governments plans to demolish Gezi Park, one of the last green spaces in central Istanbul and replace it with a shopping mall, a replica of Ottoman era artillery. The brutal crackdown of protestors last week inflamed nationwide rallies over the weekend against police brutality and anti-democratic rule of the government. You can read more on Burak and Selim's cases in Turkish here and more on the protests here.

Dr. Burak Ünveren

The Day that Academic Liberty Sank in Gallipoli

(This post is GIT - North America's translation of the news piece published in the daily Radikal on 04/22/2013. More, in Turkish, can be found here and here. Her statement, also in Turkish, can be read here.)

Mukaddes Akdeniz had, for a while, been teaching "Life Skills and Social Activities" at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University's Department of Chemistry. Two years ago, on December 30, 2011, when a student, M.C., during a presentation on the Battle of Gallipoli, claimed that "the imams and saints won the battle with their frocks," Akdeniz objected to this claim on the basis that "it is not scientific." Another student gave a presentation on [the renowned Ottoman Empire architect] Mimar Sinan. Yet another student, during his/her presentation on the history of Tekirdag, said that the Armenian, Greek-Orthodox and Jewish populations of the city were all gone now. Following this presentation Akdeniz lamented that "we could not protect our cultural heritage" and recounted the story of a friend of hers who, after denigrating Armenians for years, had found out during his/her grandmother's funeral that she was actually of Armenian descent. The class ended thus; and yet, the "trial" of Akdeniz was only beginning. 

M.C., who had presented on the Battle of Gallipoli, submitted a letter to the Dean on January 4, 2012, with the complaint that he/she had received a failing grade. According to M.C., Akdeniz had stated that there "is no other battle as nonsensical as the Gallipoli," had defended the Armenians and imposed her own views on the class. "Me and the rest of the class, we all learned that day that our teacher's family is of Armenian origin" said M.C. Another student, E.G., claimed that "these comments were belittling the Battle of Gallipoli, a source of pride for our nation, and were detrimental to the unity of the nation." A.K., another student of Akdeniz's said: "I find it disturbing that, in class, she imposes on us feminism and topics of political content."

On April 9th, Akdeniz encountered in the papers the news that she had allegedly insulted Gallipoli veterans, and had stated: "Do not fool yourselves with this rubbish. The real war is Kurdish people's war for independence." Following these, Tekirdag Anti-Terrorism Bureau heard the testimony of twelve students. The students claimed that Akdeniz had maintained "Armenians were the first to offer help following the earthquake in Van," and that she was "teary-eyed when talking about her friend's relationship to her Armenian identity, as if she was talking about herself." However, they reported that she had not stated "The real war is Kurdish people's war for independence," and that she might have rather said "The real issue is our struggle for independence." All of the students spoke of how "she had not engaged in any propaganda about any political ideology or terrorist organization" but that she had mentioned "the poor administration by the government, lack of justice, women's oppression and income inequality."

Regardless, the police report claims that Akdeniz had used the term “worthless” in regards to the Battle of Gallipoli, that she had stated “I am from the city of Kars, but I am of Armenian descent,” had praised the student presentation on Mimar Sinan by saying “Thank you for preparing slides that illustrate the problems of Armenians,” and had stated “Not only Turkish people live in this country, Armenians and Kurds live here, too. You cannot ignore them.” As a result, the report claimed that Akdeniz “might incite animosity and hostility by engaging in propaganda against the State, and could thus endanger public safety by igniting potential conflict.” In addition, the report asserted that she had spread PKK propaganda via the expression “The real issue is our struggle for independence.” The police report also stated that Akdeniz is being investigated for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda because she had attended the Nevruz celebrations in the city of Çorlu in 2010. Her case has been sent to Istanbul Public Prosecutor's office in charge of TMK (Turkish Civil Code) 10. 

The Office of the President of Namık Kemal University took action in accordance with the police. They started an investigation claiming that [Akdeniz] “strayed away from the syllabus, and expressed personal statements disparaging the state, derogating national and moral values and aiming to promote certain ethic groups” and that [she] “forged attendance sheets for the three weeks that she was absent.” According to the claims [of the university], she had rescheduled one class, the following week she could not make it due to the news of her parents’ cancer, and the week after that she returned to find an empty class. However, it is said, she collected course payments as usual. The Office of the President concluded their investigation with the suggestion that she be laid off, claiming that she “had unaccounted extra income.” The judicial clerk for the Disciplinary Committee of the Board of Higher Education, Beril Dedeoğlu, in her statement dated 28 February 2003, suggested that the punishment should be approved, but, that due to Akdeniz's good standing, it should be deemed as “supposition of retirement from office.” The Board of Higher Education affirmed this claim and dismissed Akdeniz from profession.

MESA urges Turkey to Take Action Against Anti-Democratic Activities of Marmara University Dean

In a letter "[...] concerning the alarming incidents that have been reported at Marmara University’s Faculty of Communications under the leadership of its government-appointed dean, Yusuf Devran," the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) urged Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan to take action:

"Since his appointment in July 2011, Dean Devran has reportedly used his position to single out students and faculty for surveillance, verbal and physical harassment, disciplinary proceedings and ethnic and political profiling—including the designation of students as potential PKK affiliates as a result of their involvement in activities deemed critical of the government or of the dean himself, or simply because they are ethnically Kurdish. Beyond the targeting of students and faculty, he has also used his position to cancel academic programs on the basis of objections to their substantive focus in a manner inimical to academic freedom.
[...]
The case of the events at the Faculty of Communications at Marmara University since Devran’s appointment as dean by YÖK offers the most troubling and intensive example of violations of academic freedom that are becoming unfortunately common on university campuses across the country."

The letter was published in the independent ezine Jadaliyya. Amnesty International – USA’s Turkey Regional Action Network published a piece on the letter, which provides links to similar cases.

Pınar Selek: Sentenced, again.

The case of Pınar Selek, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Strasbourg, and the "released again - sentenced again" cycle of shame continues. In a previous post, we had discussed the absurdity of this case and how despite the lack of any concrete evidence, Selek trials continued. A website dedicated to Selek also contains information on the case.

The Amnesty International coverage by Howard Eissenstat today states that:

"Turkish press sources report that Pinar Selek was today found guilty and sentenced to
life imprisonment in the 1998 bombing of the Egyptian Bazaar. As we noted earlier this 
week, Selek had three times been acquitted on these same charges and there have been
on-going concerns with the weakness of the evidence in the case."

To read more from the Amnesty International, you can click here and here.

Also, for a recent MESA Committee on Academic Freedom letter on the subject--demanding justice for Selek, please click here. The letter summarizes part of her plight as follows:

"Selek was charged with membership in the PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan- Kurdistan Workers’ Party) on the basis of extremely weak evidence allegedly linking her to an explosion at the Istanbul Spice Market in 1998. The sole basis for this allegation was the testimony of a single individual who retracted his statement in open court and asserted that it had been extracted under torture. Further, multiple expert reports have challenged the claim that the explosion in question was even caused by a bomb. When Selek was first taken into custody she was conducting research on the PKK and during the two years of her detention she herself was subjected to torture by interrogators who demanded that she reveal the names of her interview subjects. Indeed, all of the circumstances attendant to her case suggest that Selek has been on trial for the last fourteen years for her research on the PKK in violation of her right to academic freedom."

Selek was interviewed on CNN Turkey, and announced that she will hold a press conference tomorrow, January 25th, at noon.

As students and professors working in diverse fields, including Ottoman and Turkish Studies in North America, we are profoundly distressed by Selek’s treatment and we stand in solidarity with her academic rights to peacefully conduct research and her individual right to a just closure to this case.

For Hrant Dink – 6 years have passed!

It has been six years since Hrant  was murdered and one year since the trial (charade) ended. None of the state officials implicated in his murder have been investigated in any satisfactory manner. Not only have they not been brought into justice, almost everyone whose name is connected with this murder has been promoted. One of those who convicted him for something he did not write became the ombudsman of the Turkish Republic.  His murder was a brutality, things happening since the murder are an infamy,  and they are shameful. The struggle for justice continues on the sixth anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination.

Here is a link to the short documentary filmmaker Ümit Kıvanç has prepared to mark the sixth year.

The headlines in the documentary as translated by GIT North America are as follows:

For Hrant! We’re Here Ahparig (dear brother)!

They jailed the kid they used to kill you.

But they first made him a hero.

And they sacrificed a man to be punished,

the one they chose among those they had trained.

One of the murderers was their official employee,

to punish him would be too much, so they spared him.

They rewarded everyone who either participated  

or were an accomplice to the murder.

They promoted them, appointed one a governor,

took in another one to the Parliament.

The judge who made you a target – he prospered.

They got angry when we called them murderers.

But all of them are rewarded in high offices of the State.

This is what it must be like

to sink as you move higher.

They are sinking into the swamp

in their business suits.

This is what it means to be low.

To contradict those who have no shame

We’ll be there that day, ahparig!

On January 19, on the pavement they shot you

We’ll be here, ahparig!

The cases of Prof. Dr. Fatih Hilmioğlu and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Haberal

Below is a detailed account of the cases of Prof. Fatih Hilmioglu and Prof. Mehmet Haberal. We believe in their right to a prompt fair trial regardless of their politics.

Prof. Dr. Fatih Hilmioğlu is a physician and a professor of medicine and was a faculty member at Başkent University in Ankara, Turkey and former rector of İnönü University in Malatya, Turkey. He was arrested in April of 2009 under the over sweeping Ergenekon investigation and has been imprisoned for over 3 years. Dr. Hilmioglu is accused of being part of the alleged Ergenekon criminal organization working towards destabilizing the country for overthrowing the elected government, an organization whose existence is yet to be proved (Abbott, 2012). While awaiting trial, Dr. Hilmioğlu has suffered from cirrhosis of the liver. Despite the recommendation that he should be released to await trial as he received medical treatment as “he has the risk of liver cancer, and staying in prison means his life could be in danger” (Gürdoğan, 2010), he was sent back to Silivri prison. As predicted by the medical professionals who treated him, his health has taken a turn for the worse. Dr. Hilmioğlu has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is gravely ill. Members of several civil society organizations including Turkish Medical Association (Turk Tabipler Birligi), Association of Academic Staff (TÜMÖD), Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV), and journalists have come together in early January of 2013 to issue a press release to request the release of Dr. Hilmioğlu (Cumhuriyet, 2013).

            
 Prof. Dr. Mehmet Haberal is also a physician and a professor of medicine.  He is a pioneer of transplant surgery in Turkey, founder of 10 hospitals, 6 dialysis centers, and the founder and former rector of Başkent University in Ankara. (Biography and publications can be seen from his website). He also has been imprisoned for over 3 years accused of being affiliated with the alleged Ergenekon criminal organization. He had transformed the court transcript of his first verbal deposition and cross-examination which had taken place after a year after his arrest in a book titled “What is my Crime? (Akyol, 2011). Dr. Haberal is 69 years old and suffered from heart disease in jail.
  
The excessive length of criminal proceedings in Turkey has been well documented in several national and international reports including the 2012 Turkey Progress Report of the European Union, the Reporters without Borders Investigation Report, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights report. The Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS), an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom, sponsored a petition on their website (concernedscientists.org) calling for the release of Dr. Fatih Hilmioglu and Dr. Mehmet Haberal, for health reasons pending the outcome of their trials. The petition states: 

“In October of 2009, CCS wrote in concern about Drs. Mehmet Haberal and 11 other doctors and academics under indictment in Turkey. CCS has learned that most of the arrested academics have been released on bail. However, two of those on our list are still being held: Dr. Mehmet Haberal, the rector of Baskent University in Ankara, who pioneered transplant surgery in Turkey, and Dr. Fatih Hilmioglu, a gastroenterologist, former rector of Inonu University in Malatya. CCS urges the release of Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu for health reasons pending the outcome of their trial.
The two have now been detained for almost three years. Turkish law allows indicted individuals to be kept in long-term detention only if there is a danger that they might either destroy evidence or flee - not likely in this case. Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu have been in state custody since their arrests in April 2009; however, because both were suffering from ill-health, they were held in hospitals where they reportedly were receiving medical attention. Both men were subsequently transferred back to prison. Since then, their health reportedly took a turn for the worse. Dr. Hilmioglu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and reportedly is gravely ill. Dr. Haberal has angina, cardiac arrhythmia, and severe anxiety and depression.
CCS is concerned that these academics and doctors appear to be on trial solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and of association. CCS is also concerned that such extensive detention without bail deprives defendants of their rights under Turkish and international law, which require such a trial to be held within a reasonable time. Finally, almost three years in detention pending trial, especially under these circumstances, surely exceed any limitations in the Turkish constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.”

You can view and sign the petition for the release of Drs. Haberal and Hilmioglu, on the CCS website at: http://concernedscientists.org/2011/11/petition-for-the-release-of-drs-haberal-and-hilmioglu-from-prison-in-turkey/

Sources:

Abbott, Alison. (June 26, 2012) Secularist academic jailed in Turkey. Nature, available at: http://www.nature.com/news/secularist-academic-jailed-in-turkey-1.10891 [accessed January 8, 2013]

Akyol, Mete. (Eds.). (2011). What is my crime? Professor Mehmet Haberal’s oral Silivri deposition. Ankara, Turkey: Can Matematik Yayınları.Available at: http://www.mehmethaberal.com.tr/en/what_is_my_crime.pdf

Cumhuriyet (January 8, 2013). Fatih Hilmioğlu'na özgürlük çağrısı, available at:

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/?hn=391172&kn=7&ka=4&kb=7 [accessed January 10, 2013]

European Commission (December 10, 2012) Turkey 2012 Progress Report Accompanying The Communication From The Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2012-2013, available at: http://Ec.Europa.Eu/Enlargement/Pdf/Key_Documents/2012/Package/Tr_Rapport_2012_En.Pdf  [accessed January 8, 2013]

Gurdogan, Burhan. (August 13, 2010) Turkey’s Ergenekon investigation - violations and inconsistencies. OpenDemocracy, available at:  http://www.opendemocracy.net/burhan-gurdogan/turkey%E2%80%99s-ergenekon-investigation-violations-and-inconsistencies [accessed January 8, 2013]

Human Rights Watch.  (November 1, 2010).  Protesting as a Terrorist Offense: The Arbitrary Use of Terrorism Laws to Prosecute and Incarcerate Demonstrators in Turkey, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4cd2b8b02.html [accessed January 8, 2013]

Reporters without borders. (RWB). (June 2011). Media and Justice in Turkey, Mistrust And Repression Investigation Report, available at: http://en.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/rsf_report_turkey_2011_en.pdf [accessed January 8, 2013]

U.S. Department of State (2011). Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011: Turkey, available at: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?dlid=186414 [accessed January 8, 2013]

394 Signed Our Statement of Solidarity with METU

As scholars and students from Turkey as well as academics working on Turkey and the Ottoman Empire in North America we are deeply concerned by the recent incidents that took place at the Middle East Technical University (METU) campus on December 18, 2012 during and after Prime Minister Erdogan's visit.

Security forces used excessive force and violence against students protesting peacefully, some of whom were arrested and held in detention. Following the incident, in response to the campus-wide boycott initiated by the faculty and students, the PM made public statements which insulted and threatened the university's faculty. Both police actions and the PM's verbal assaults constitute a direct assault on the university as an institution, its educational role in society, and on freedom of thought. Attempts to label every act of dissent and criticism of the ruling party as "terrorism" must be condemned, particularly when they might influence current policy decisions. That these events took place at a time when a revision of the bill for The Council of Higher Education (YOK, the central governing body for all post-secondary institutions) is under discussion, is very disconcerting.

The METU incident is only one of increasing number of direct assaults on university students and faculty members that leave us gravely concerned for the present and the future of democracy in Turkey. The authoritarian tendencies in the ruling party and the use of both police violence and judicial repression are growing daily. They pose severe impediments to freedom of thought and expression in every domain. We take this opportunity to express our solidarity with academic institutions, faculty members and students in Turkey who face this repression.

Please find the signatories to our statement here.

You can read our statement in Turkish here. 

From Prison: A letter from Kemal Gürüz

A letter from Professor Kemal Gürüz, the former president of Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK) and a retired chemical engineer, who was arrested on 25 June 2012 in relation to '28 February Investigation.' He has been in pre-trial detention for over six months in a maximum-security prison in Turkey. Although we do not endorse his political position and many of his past activities as the president of YÖK, we believe in his right to a prompt fair trial.

As in his first letter, in this second letter Gürüz responds to accusations concerning his involvement in the 28 February Process, which led to the resignation of the government in 1997, following a series of ultimatums from the military to end political activities considered threatening to the country’s constitutional secularism.