The move followed the recent dismissals, investigations and prosecutions under the Turkish Penal Code and Anti-Terror Law of 1,128 academics from 89 universities in Turkey, including the imprisonment of four human and trade union rights defenders, over their demands for peace. Several are facing trial today, 22 April.
The academics – alongside over 355 from abroad – had signed a peace statement on 11 January calling on the Turkish government to end state violence and prepare conditions for negotiations that would lead to a lasting peace. It also demanded an end to the increasing government repression and attacks on Kurdish and other people in the Kurdish provinces, where in the past ten months alone, 338 people have been killed during police operations and a series of curfews have been imposed.
In March, rights activists Esra Mungan (Boğaziçi University), Kıvanç Ersoy (Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts), Muzaffer Kaya (Nişantaşı University) and Meral Camcı (İstanbul Yeniyüzyıl University) were arrested for ‘making terrorist propaganda’ and taken into custody after reiterating the demands for peace on behalf of Academics for Peace in Istanbul. On 22 March, Academics for Peace started a ‘Freedom Watch’ in front of the prisons, which has attracted widespread support, and the University of Metris Prison (MetrU) was established to organise solidarity activities by supporters of academics.
The global unions expressed their “deep concerns about ongoing violations of human rights, freedom of expression, academic freedoms and the right to work in Turkey”. They said: “EI, PSI, ITF, ETF and their affiliates worldwide are in solidarity with academics in Turkey. We believe that the demand for peace cannot be judged. We will be monitoring the working and living conditions of Academics for Peace until they have gained their freedom and right to work. [We] request that the government stops these unfair imprisonments and grants academics their freedom at the next trial.”
