Barış istediği için tutuklanan üyemiz Esra Mungan ile Kıvanç Ersoy ve Muzaffer Kaya; hakkında yakalama kararı bulunan Meral Camcı ve tüm barış isteyen akademisyenlerin üzerindeki baskıların kaldırılması için yurtdışındaki meslek örgütleriyle* bir dayanışma çağrısı** paylaşmış bulunmaktayız.
*Çağrının paylaşıldığı kurumlar şöyledir:
•American Psychological Association
•European Federation of Psychologists' Associations
•European Association of Social Psychology
•Psychologists for Social Responsibility
•Psychologists for Human Rights
•International Society of Political Psychology
•British Psychological Society
•Australian Psychological Society
•Belgian Association for Psychological Science
•Canadia Psychological Association
•Eastern Psychological Association
•Western Psychological Association
•Society fort he Psychological Study of Social Issues
**Metin şöyledir:
Dear Colleagues,
As the executive committee of the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity (TODAP), we write you to communicate the recent worrying developments in Turkey regarding the soaring government pressure on Academics for Peace. In their declaration titled “We will not be a party to this crime”[1] signed by 1128 academics from 89 universities in Turkey and over 355 academics and researchers from abroad on January 2016, Academics for Peace demanded the state of Turkey to end the curfews and violence in Kurdish cities, to restore the peace and to restart the negotiation process. Following their demand, they were exposed to a hate speech by the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing the petitioners of being “lumpen”, “half-portion intellectuals”[2] and of supporting terrorism[3]. As a result, an academic witch hunt had been started with the order of the Council of Higher Education and about 800 academics have been threatened with losing their jobs. The table below represents the numeric details of only official treatments*.
|
|
Public Universities |
Private Universities |
Total |
|
Suspension |
27 |
2 |
29 |
|
Administrative Investigation |
472 |
60 |
532 |
|
Resignation |
6 |
- |
6 |
|
Forced Retirement |
- |
1 |
1 |
|
Dismissal |
14 |
24 |
38 |
|
Legal/Criminal Investigation |
156 |
2 |
158 |
|
Detention |
35 |
2 |
37 |
|
*The provided information is obtained from the Academics for Peace reports |
Besides the hate speech, the hate crimes as well as the unfair/groundless official treatments they were subject to, the most shocking and unacceptable event regarding the criminal investigation has been the arrestment of the three petitioner academics and the warrant issued against another one (currently free given her existence abroad), who have been charged for "doing terrorist propaganda" on March 15, 2016 following Erdogan's speech criminalizing academics again[4]. The next day, a foreign academic, who has been living and working in Turkey since 1991, faced a deportation decision from the court[5]. The court decisions are legally groundless, with the sole alibi being the peace declaration that 1128 academics have signed.
Given the undemocratic and worrying situation, we would like to let our international colleagues know that we demand an end to the oppression towards Academics for Peace. We demand freedom for our arrested colleagues Esra Mungan from Boğaziçi University, Kıvanç Ersoy from Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts, and Muzaffer Kaya, who was fired from Nişantaşı University after signing the declaration. Among them, Esra Mungan is also a disciplinary colleague to us, an assistant professor of the psychology department at Boğaziçi University, a member of our association. [6] We are sad as well as angry that she has been punished for her sincere and responsible call for peace, that she has been prevented to teach her students, practice her profession, that she has been kept away from her loved ones, her family, her friends. Moreover, we are shocked to learn that she has been kept in total isolation in aggravated life imprisonment conditions in the Bakırköy Penal Institution for Women despite the law against this prosecution.
In addition to Esra, several other colleagues from psychology departments of universities have been under official oppression Among 49 petitioner academics of psychology, 17 were faced with administrative investigations that resulted in suspension of four academics, dismissal of three academics and resignation of one academic. Twenty nine of the academics have been under criminal investigation. Three of them have already been taken into custody, and one has been arrested. Looking at the unfolding events, one would unfortunately predict the same faith for the rest of the petitioner academics if the prosecutors act consistently.
We are worried for the undemocratic actions against the academia in Turkey and we are worried for our colleagues in academia. Therefore, we call your association’s attention to the issue counting on the international solidarity in our academic discipline. We kindly invite you to share your support with Esra Mungan, the other psychologists and the remaining petitioners of the Academics of Peace. As psychologists, we hold to the premise that it is our humanitarian as well as professional duty to stand for peace, justice and freedom. In the appendix, we also share the official declaration by our association[7]. Any support from your side to spread the unacceptable situation of our colleagues to mold public opinion by sharing the news in social media, to get in contact with foreign affairs offices in your country, and/or to declare solidarity with our colleagues would be very much appreciated.
Sincerely yours,
The Executive Committee of the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity (TODAP)
Appendix: Official Declaration by the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity (TODAP)
Academics For Peace Are Not Alone!
Our association member, our colleague, our professor, and our friend, assistant professor of the psychology department at Boğaziçi University Esra Mungan, as well as two other friends from academia, Muzaffer Kaya and Kıvanç Ersoy were arrested on 15 March 2016 based on a court decision considered “political” by their lawyers. The following day, Chris Stephenson was subject to a deportation decision from the court. A warrant was issued against another friend from academia, Meral Camcı, is free for now, as she has been abroad.
Their actions, which have been labeled criminal, can be summarized as drawing attention to the atmosphere of violence in Turkey, and to remind the state of which they are citizens, which they pay taxes to, of its duties and responsibilities. They did so by signing the petition “We won’t be party to this crime,” joined by 1128 academics, for standing behind the initiative, and for being spokespersons for peace on behalf of that initiative. We know that it could be any one of the other petitioner academics, or members of other petitioner groups such as students, health care professionals, engineers, and others who demanded peace and thus extended their support for the aforementioned petition text, who could be in their place now. We know that these arrests aim to discourage and intimidate other defenders of peace. We are saddened as well as angry for our friends, whose imprisonment and deportation tears them away from their loved ones, their professions, their students…
Universities are institutions that create knowledge and discussion, transmit that knowledge to new generations, and spread that knowledge for the sake of society, and as such, are always in need of independence and freedom. And science needs “the disobedient”… All scientific disciplines in general, and social sciences in particular, must be free from all kinds of influential power in the process of understanding and explaining humanity and society. For academics and (social) scientists, the identity and the responsibility of being a scientist comes with the duty of stating the realities they consider true, despite any risk. With the responsibility they feel toward the society they live in as well as toward the sciences they carry out, the 1128 academics drew attention to the tormenting war context and invited the state to bear its responsibilities for establishing serenity and peace in society. Given that, as psychologists we all know that societal peace and serenity are needed to reach the individual well-being, it is not surprising to us that among these academics, we have colleagues as well. Defending freedom, justice, solidarity, and peace is a humanitarian as well as professional duty of a psychologist. With the same responsibility, we state that we will defend people’s rights to life, to freedom, and to security, as written in the text of the petition signed by Academics for Peace. We state that we will raise our voices against the oppression and the arrests toward academics.
Our colleague Esra Mungan is not alone!
Muzaffer Kaya is not alone!
Kıvanç Ersoy is not alone!
Chris Stephenson is not alone!
Academics for Peace are not alone!
Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity