[Fdu] Turkey - Academics for Peace Solidarity Call

[Cynthia Wright]

Hello Everyone

Below is a recent bulletin re: Academics for Peace and the court 
hearings that Turkish academics are facing this month. You can also find 
more information at the link below.

The York University Faculty Association is starting a solidarity 
committee on this theme and it will be meeting in the coming days. I 
will post information about key developments.

Cynthia
>
>>
>>
>> *Call for Solidarity Actions for Academics for Peace from Turkey*
>>
>> *The first court hearings start on December 5, 2017, at 9:00 am in 
>> İstanbul Çağlayan Courthouse *As signatories to the Peace Petition of 
>> 11 January 2016, we have experienced continuous repression since we 
>> called for peace in Turkey in our declaration titled “We Will Not Be 
>> A Party To This Crime.”
>>
>> So far, more than 500 of our colleagues have been separated from 
>> their universities and their students through dismissals, firing, and 
>> forced retirement. Four of our colleagues were detained for weeks.
>> Today, as the trials of the signatories of the Academics for Peace 
>> Declaration is about to begin, we need your support more than ever. 
>> Signatories of the call for peace are accused of “making propaganda 
>> for a terrorist organisation”! The charge is punishable with 
>> imprisonment of up to 7 years 6 months under Article 7/2 of the 
>> Turkish Anti-Terror Law. This is a major threat not only to our 
>> colleagues but also to all who care about freedom of expression and 
>> academic freedom.
>> As of November 15, 2017, only one tenth of the Academics for Peace 
>> signatories have been summoned. The first set of trials, with 10 
>> minutes per individual case, will extend from December 2017 to April 
>> 2018.
>> The trials to begin in Istanbul Criminal Court involve Academics for 
>> Peace signatories from İstanbul University and Galatasaray 
>> University. They will be followed by signatories from Marmara 
>> University, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul Technical 
>> University, Özyeğin University and Kemerburgaz University. It is not 
>> clear who / from which university will be added to this chain.
>> The trials are based on the same ‘copy and paste’ bill of indictment, 
>> but on an individual basis. The individual cases will be tried by 
>> different Criminal Courts, on different dates and in 10-minute 
>> intervals. The aim is to prevent the signatories from standing 
>> together and pursuing collective defence strategies against the same 
>> charge they all face.
>> So far, the support we have received from members of universities and 
>> the general public in Turkey and beyond has been an invaluable source 
>> of hope and strength for us. Your support during this new turn of 
>> events is more important and vital than ever. What is on trial in 
>> Turkey now is not only the individual academics who signed the 
>> Academics for Peace Declaration but the very concept of academic 
>> freedom and its defenders all over the world. We call on you to stand 
>> up and stand by us in the courts starting from December 5, 2017. To 
>> do this, please send monitoring teams and observers to Turkey, raise 
>> awareness of the show trials, and call on Turkish authorities and the 
>> authorities in your countries to stop the witch hunt against 
>> academics and academic freedom in Turkey.
>> As citizens of this country we remain committed to peace, justice and 
>> the right to life. We also remain committed to fight against all 
>> kinds of rights violations and injustices.
>>
>> We will continue to do so with your ever growing solidarity.
>>
>>
>> *@barisakademik*
>>
>> **
>>
>> *fb/barisicinakademisyenler/*
>>
>> **
>>
>> *www.barisicinakademisyenler.net 
>> <http://www.barisicinakademisyenler.net/>*
>>
>> **
>>
>> *contact: bakuluslararasi at gmail.com <mailto:bakuluslararasi at gmail.com>*
>>
>> **
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *Call for international solidarity in four different languages 
>> <https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gPdf7RH2rJXX2n-3uqAeTgeDNW0HhDYN>***(English, 
>> French, German, Turkish)* 
>> <https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gPdf7RH2rJXX2n-3uqAeTgeDNW0HhDYN> *
>> *
>> *
>> *Summary of the indictment 
>> <https://drive.google.com/open?id=12RSxm3Rw08-_wQxqadTfg7_bpd8MsJTi>
>> *
>> *
>> *
>> *Rights violations against Academics for Peace 
>> <https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lH7Ubwe-x6OdcbkiJQcUvp1DuSutR0Uu>*
>> *
>> *
>>
>> Website for documenting and contextualizing the instrumentalization 
>> of the law in Turkey: *http://afp.hypotheses.org 
>> <http://afp.hypotheses.org/>
>> *
>> Le site pour Solidarité avec les Universitaires pour la Paix et 
>> Défense des Droits Humains en Turquie (en 
>> français):*http://solidarite-up.org/ <http://solidarite-up.org/>*
>>











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