Turkey’s Prosecutor General has launched an investigation against the “Academics for Peace” initiative under the notorious  Article 301of the country’s Criminal Code.

1128 Turkish scientists and representatives of intelligence, who addressed a letter to President Erdogan urging him to make peace with the Kurds, may face imprisonment for a period of six months to two years.  The scientists are also charged under an article related to “propaganda for a terrorist organization”. The mentioned article envisages imprisonment for a period from one to five years.

The same article was used to try Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was later acquitted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

1128 scientists and representatives of intelligence signed a declaration, urging the Turkish authorities to stop the massacre policy against the Kurds, allow the monitoring commission to visit the Kurdish-inhabited regions and create conditions for negotiations.

President Erdogan called those people traitors and ordered to launch an investigation against them. 12 scientists from the Kocaeli University have already been arrested.