In the latest example of the Turkish government's pressure on scholars, 1,200 academics from 89 universities who signed a statement that expressed concern over the ongoing clashes between security forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the country's southeastern provinces, calling on the government to restore peace, are facing criminal investigations. Some were suspended from their posts for signing the declaration, while others were briefly detained by the police.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide condemns the Turkish government's jailing and threatening of scholars as doing so is in clear violation of human Rights and academic Freedom.
The targeting of scholars and professors in the ongoing unrest is particularly distressing, and it harms the entire global educational community by undermining universities' abilities to meet their educational, research, and social responsibilities.