Turkish academic to be tried for signing peace petition

December 5, 2017 By administrator

Some 150 academics who signed a petition calling for peace in Turkey’s Kurdish regions are now facing trial. Uraz Aydin, the editor of the leftwing journal Yeniyol faces additional charges of terrorist propaganda.

A few days before his trial resumed, DW met 41-year-old Uraz Aydin in an Istanbul café. Nearly a year ago, he was among a group of academics who signed a peace petition. Shortly thereafter, he, like many others in the group, lost his job as a research associate at Marmara University’s Faculty of Communication. A new law under the state of emergency that went into effect in February 2017 provided the grounds for his dismissal.

It was a hard blow for Aydin. He enjoyed his job at the university and now longs for everything he had to leave behind after his eight years of research. He himself had studied communication sciences at Marmara University before going on to write his doctoral thesis at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) in Paris.

Aydin’s doctoral thesis explored how leftist liberal ideas are conveyed through Turkish columnists. “I am active in the union and have never concealed my leftist identity. But I did feel the consequences of this. While some of my students even got teaching positions at the university, I did not have such a position at the university.”

Life-changing signature

But Aydin could never have imagined how signing the peace petition would impact his life. He signed the appeal at a time when he and other academics felt they could no longer accept the prevailing conditions. “My friends and I have asked ourselves whether our signatures drove the country to where it is now. We set the agenda for the country. And then it took control of our lives.”

Last year, after many years of work as a research assistant, Aydin applied for a position as a lecturer and was actually promised a job. The next day, however, he found out that the names of the academics who signed the peace petition were passed on to the university council. “So my joy lasted only one day,” he said.

From that day on, he began waiting for the release of a list of names gathered under the state of emergency law. When he found his name on the list, he was relieved. “It was already clear to us that passing our names on to the university council would mean our dismissal. The waiting was a strain. It just makes you think, ‘Come what may.'”

Strength in solidarity

Aydin’s eyes light up when he recalls the day he went to the office to gather his belongings. The solidarity he received made him emotional. He was not able to take all the books he had accumulated in the past 29 years. Now in his forties, he felt a deep shock at having to leave the university he came to at the age of 19.

“The state accuses you of terrorist propaganda and you receive tremendous solidarity. It gives you the strength to carry on. But at times, you feel you’re the victim of a great injustice. Who is tearing me out of this place where I’ve spent so many years, and with what right?”

Uraz Aydin’s trial began immediately after his dismissal from the university. The prosecution states that the published petition is terrorist propaganda. A statement by Bese Hozat, co-chairman of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), dated December 27, 2015, is also being used as evidence. The KCK is considered to be the extended arm of the PKK, which Turkey has classified as a terrorist organization.

No fresh start abroad

Uraz Aydin has not considered starting a new life for himself abroad. He does not want to force his young son to experience what he himself went through. Aydin grew up in Paris, after his father had to leave Turkey following a military coup on September 12, 1980. It was not until the amnesty of 1991 that Aydin’s family was able to return to Turkey.

He says that while times are tough for academics in Turkey, he is convinced that he is on the right side. Then, suddenly, he pulls out a book: Nuriye Gulmen’s Turkish translation of “The Hesse/Mann Letters,” an exchange between Nobel laureates Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse. The translator was also a signatory who lost her job and she is currently on a hunger strike. The quote that Aydin reads out loud from the book summarizes his opinion on the trial: “We are experiencing malice in all its horror. This experience, which we were forced to accept, makes us discover the good in our lives.”

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/turkish-academic-to-be-tried-for-signing-peace-petition/a-41647581

Turkey Now Targeting Academic Freedom in Europe

October 9, 2017 By administrator

BY UZAY BULUT,

Turkey’s targeting of dissident academics seems to have crossed the borders of the country. Academic freedom in Europe and in the U.S. is being stymied by the Turkish government and nationalist groups.

Most recently, Turkey targeted a conference held September 15 to 18 at the European Academy Berlin entitled “Past in the Present: European Approaches to the Armenian Genocide.” It was part of the “Workshop on Armenian Turkish Scholarship (WATS),” a series founded by the University of Michigan in 2000. It was co-organized by the University of Michigan, the Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies of the University of Southern California (USC), and Germany’s Lepsiushaus Potsdam.

Before the conference took place, nationalist groups, media outlets, and Turkey’s government-funded Council of Higher Education (YÖK) targeted the organizers and participants in a PR campaign.

This led to academics working in Turkish universities to withdraw.

The head of the ultra-nationalist Homeland Party (Vatan Partisi) and a long-time avid denier of the Armenian genocide, Doğu Perinçek, were prominent leaders of the PR campaign. At a press conference on September 6, Perinçek accused the conference and Sabancı University — one of the organizers of this year’s conference — of engaging in “a betrayal of science, university identity, law, and the homeland.” He added:

This workshop serves the project of “Kurdistan,” or more correctly, “a second Israel” of USA imperialism. Particularly the fifth panel of the workshop discusses the “unity of fate” of Armenians and Kurds against Turkey. This is an imperialistic confession.

Perinçek called on the YÖK to prevent Turkish academics from joining the conference.

Following Perinçek’s denunciation of the workshop, the ultra-nationalist paper Aydınlık attacked Sabancı University with an article headlined: “Hey Sabancı, Stop This Disgrace.”

The pressure on the universities and academics by the YÖK and the media bore fruit. Sabancı University withdrew from the event.

On September 8, Aydınlık proudly reported its “victory” in a headline that read: “No academics for the workshop of lies.” In another report, Aydınlık referred to those who participated in the workshop as “fake academics,” and listed the PR campaign’s “accomplishments” concerning the workshop:

The conference has literally “fallen to pieces” after the head of the Homeland Party, Doğu Perinçek, warned that the conference was a betrayal of science and homeland.

So, there is no longer a Turkish university left in the workshop of betrayal. The beginning date of the workshop has been postponed to the next day; the withdrawn Turkish academics have been replaced with foreigners and the access to the program is now subject to permission. It would be an insufficient explanation if we did not say the persevering and determined attitude of the YÖK has greatly contributed to getting these results.

In reality, the academics who participated in the event are top scholars engaged in vital, critical research, and are highly regarded for their academic endeavors on a global scale.

The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) of North America and its Committee on Academic Freedom has issued a written statement about the pressure placed on the conference and the academics:

As part of his broader campaign against the conference, Perinçek brought the topic and list of participants to the attention of YOK, which subsequently rescinded permission for Turkey-based academics to travel to the conference. In line with this policy, Dr. Murat Cankara, who is on the faculty at the Ankara Social Sciences University, was subjected to a travel ban preventing him from participating in the conference.

In addition, ultra-nationalist Turkish diaspora organizations, in apparent coordination with Perinçek’s party, have mobilized against the conference and are threatening a show of force at the Lepsuishaus, the main organizer of the event in Germany. No doubt, anyone who attends the conference is at risk of being filmed/photographed, blacklisted, and hounded by social media trolls in Turkey.

The smear campaign led by the daily Aydınlık, associated with Perinçek and his party, targets the private Koç and Sabancı Universities and accuses especially the latter of treason. The atmosphere of intimidation and threats has grown so alarming that the cancellation of the conference is being considered.

We strongly condemn the private and public harassment of academics for their planned participation in this conference and call on YÖK to immediately reverse its policy of preventing academics from traveling from Turkey to attend the conference.

We consider this action to be an assault on the academic freedom of scholars in Turkey.

Despite the pressure and the threats, many academics from Turkey who are currently based outside the country did participate in the event as speakers. However, they were still targeted.

The ultra-nationalist People’s Liberation Party (Halkın Kurtuluş Partisi, HKP) filed a criminal complaint against two participants and the presidents of Koç and Sabancı universities based on article 301 of Turkish criminal law, which punishes those who “insult Turkishness.”

Yektan Türkyilmaz, a prominent Armenian genocide scholar from Turkey who attended the conference as a speaker, and who is now based in Germany, said:

Source: https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/2017/10/09/turkey-now-targeting-academic-freedom-europe/

Nearly 5,000 academics dismissed since Erdogan Fake coup attempt: Turkish opposition

March 29, 2017 By administrator

This photo taken on February 13, 2017 shows academics and students shouting slogans during a protest against the dismissal of academics from universities following a post-coup emergency decree in Ankara University. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey’s main opposition party says nearly 5,000 academics have been sacked by the government since last summer’s failed coup.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) said in a report on Sunday that a total of 4,811 academicians from 112 universities had been dismissed by the Turkish government in the aftermath of the last July botched putsch.

The report said the authorities had also shut down 15 out of 191 universities in Turkey over alleged criticisms of the government since July 15, 2016.

The coup began when a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge. It was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Following the failed coup, Ankara launched a heavy-handed crackdown on those deemed to have played a role in the attempt, which was blamed on the movement led by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Pennsylvania-based cleric has, however, categorically denied the allegation.

Over 240 people were killed during the failed coup.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicions of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.

Last week, Amnesty International said one-third of all imprisoned journalists across the globe were incarcerated in Turkey. The rights group urged Turkish authorities to immediately release all the inmates totaling more than 100 journalists.

Ankara unleashed a widespread purge across the country following the subversive move, with the international community highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals.

Ankara says it will continue the purge to prevent a repetition of the attempt.

Problem of reparations to Armenian Genocide victims reaches academic level

November 22, 2016 By administrator

In the past, while speaking of reparations to Armenian Genocide victims, everyone thought of unleashing war against Turkey without properly assessing the reality, Ashot Melkonyan, Director of the Institute of History, Academy of Sciences of Armenia, said at an international academic conference entitled “The Armenian Genocide and reparation problem.”

“The reparation problem is a most important one. In the case of Jewish Holocaust, Jews got things right and took a course of reparation. And the process started in the early 1950s and has continued since, while Jews go on complaining the amount is too small against what happened to Jews,” Mr Melkonyan said.

After being discussed with scholars, political parties and Hay Dat, the issue of reparations has reached the academic level and relevant demands need to be properly formulated – material and territorial reparations.
“Society may strongly oppose you when you speak of something new, but they get accustomed step by step,” Mr Melkonyan said.

Even Germans, who used to persuade Armenians into giving up claims for reparation, have now supported it after the German Bundestag adopted a resolution on the Armenian Genocide.

Drawing parallels between the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, Mr Melkonyan noted the difference is territorial claims.

“The Armenian Genocide was committed in Western Armenia, with the indigenous population deported,” the scholar said.

The proposals for reparation put forward at the conference will be considered and will form a volume in a few days.

Revolutionary academic conference on the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul

March 19, 2015 By administrator

Researchers around the world will gather in Istanbul Bilgi University April 26, 2015 to participate in an international conference titled “The Armenian Genocide: Concepts and Comparative Perspectives” and co-sponsored by the University of Istanbul Bilgi, Foundation of Turkish History (Tarih Vakfı) and Chair of Modern Armenian History at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The conference will be part of the series of a week of activities commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul organized by DurDe a Turkish organization of human rights, and Project 2015, a group based in the US to help Armenians organize visits Turkey for historical commemoration.

“This is a very important opportunity for researchers worldwide to address critical aspects of the facts and history of the Armenian genocide here in Istanbul, 100 years after it began,” said Bülent Bilmez President Bilgi the History Department and the Foundation of history in Turkey. “We hope that talking openly about the common history of Armenians and other peoples of Turkey, something that has not always been possible, help our society to come to terms with the past.”

Among the scholars participating in the conference include Norman Naimark, Jay Winter, Dirk Moses Müge Göçek, Cathie Carmichael, Keith Watenpaugh, Uğur Ümit Üngör and Mehmet Polatel. The rally will probe the concept of genocide in comparative perspective, exploring the forcible transfer of children, and consider how the genocide was mapped in historiography and immortalized in the collective and historical memory.

“For those who have suggested that historians examine the history of the Armenian genocide we say,” We come to Istanbul to do just that, with other historians in Turkey, “said Richard Hovannisian Sebouh Aslanian and co-chairs of the Chair in Modern Armenian History at the History Department of the University of California, Los Angeles. “A frank and open discussion on the historical record is our way of contributing to the knowledge and education on the Armenian genocide in Turkey.”
Thursday, March 19, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com