On Thursday, Ayse Gul Altinay from Sabanci University’s Center for Gender Studies, whom some of you may know, has received a 25 months sentence, beyond the limit that permits one to avoid going to prison. This is totally arbitrary of course, there’s no reason why Ayse Gul should be more punished than others. Cf: http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/208694-one-academic-sentenced-to-2-years-1-month-in-prison
Two other incidents that occured recently are also very alarming: political scientist Füsun Ustel is now in prison for refusing to have the court postpone her judgment, and mathematician Tuna Altinel got arrested on grounds that he participated in a public meeting organized in Lyon by a Kurdish association. He is also a signatory of the petition. Cf.
We feel that now is the right moment to put pressure on the Turkish government. There is a general feeling that the AKP has reached a threshold beyond which it will start going downhill. The economy is in shambles and many people are disillusioned owing to this and to the cancellation of the Istanbul elections.
If you would like to help, our suggestion would be to write several letters addressed to your own university president, to your local MPs, to Turkish embassies in your home country, and to several Turkish institutions involved in the criminalization of academics (cf. list attached).
Spreading the news and getting to as many influential institutions as possible would be beneficial, no matter what. Institutional responses (from academic associations, etc.) would also make a great impact. Stating that scholars who are persecuted are members of academic associations abroad and pressuring the Turkish government by insinuating that the relationship between these associations and Turkish institutions would be damaged if the persecutions continue would be a good way of expressing indignation. Attached is the list of 1128 academics, some of whom you may know if you take a quick look.
Aslo attached is an informative text on how the persecutions started and have evolved since 2016. This may be used in whatever form necessary to flesh out the statements to be made. We think it’s crucial not to forget that 1128 academics are or will be undergoing trial. And so, even though Ayse Gul’s sentence and Füsun and Tuna’s imprisonment seems to have incited a new wave of solidarity in the US and Europe, it would be best if statements demanded justice for all academics concerned. The info text provides more details.
Various campaigns of solidarity have already started in France for Tuna and Füsun, both of whom are francophone. Here is a petition for Tuna and attached is another one for both of our imprisoned colleagues.
Several statements of support have also been issued for Ayse Gul:
https://culturalanthropology.duke.edu/news/statement-support-ay%C5%9Fe-g%C3%BCl-altinay
http://www.sciencespo.fr/programme-presage/en/news/statement-support-ayse-guel-altinay