political executions

in support of Turkish mathematicians

[Here is a call from the three French maths and stats societies about the Human Right violations in Turkey and in particular the dire conditions of academics in Turkish universities.]

The Scientific Council is outraged by and condemns the arrests, persecutions and dismissals of more than a thousand of scientists in Turkey for more than a year : teachers, academics, doctors and PhD students. There can be no great country without free and independent research. We therefore ask that our colleagues be released and reinstalled in their positions, regain their freedom of speech and may travel abroad. We also condemn the latest decree that removes the autonomy of universities. It cancels the elections of the presidents (rectors) of the universities, private and public, and allows the President of the Republic to appoint who he wants in their place, as happened at the Bosphorus University. We also encourage all initiatives, at the CNRS and in the French Universities, to welcome our scientific colleagues from Turkey who are refugees in France.

The three French mathematical societies (SFdS, SMAI and SMF) also express their solidarity with all their colleagues who are discriminated against in Turkey without being able to leave the country. They support notably Mustafa Kalafat, mathematician dismissed from his functions at the University of Tunceli and arrested on the Georgian border. He is currently imprisoned and accused to be linked to the Gülenists and the coup attempt of July 2016. They also remain attentive to the fate of Kivanç Ersoy, a mathematician at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, accused of supporting terrorism for signing a petition for peace calling for dialogue and the cessation of armed conflict in Kurdistan. He is awaiting his appeal on December the 22nd, 2016.

freedom of speech in Turkey

“EUA condemns strongly and unconditionally this action against universities and university staff, and expresses its heartfelt support for the higher education community in Turkey at this time.”

Following the failed attempt at a military coup in Turkey last week, Erdoğan’s government has sacked a huge number of public workers, including all Deans of Turkey’s universities and 15,200 education staff so far. Plus barring all academics from travelling abroad. Although Erdoğan’s government has been democratically elected and while the Turkish people’s actions against the military coup led it to fail, the current purge of the public sector does not proceed from democratic principles and the current Turkish constitution and laws. Further, it sounds like the crackdown is aimed at all forms of opposition rather than at those responsible for the coup, as illustrated by the closure of websites like WikiLeaks, journals and other media.