Academic boycott

We call on all institutions of higher education, funding councils, academic and professional associations, and individual faculty members to boycott the institutions of the Turkish higher education system.

Turkey’s academic institutions are deeply enmeshed with Turkish capitalism and the military industrial complex. Many universities act as incubators for Turkish military technology, making the arms companies richer, and strengthening the state’s oppressive militarism.

Furthermore, the Turkish state and the academic establishment have been working together to stamp out freedom of speech in Turkey. In January 2016, 2,212 academics working in or researching on Turkey signed a declaration calling on the Turkish government to end the war in the Kurdish region, seek a peaceful resolution of the decades-long Kurdish question, and allow international observers to monitor the situation in Kurdish towns and cities destroyed by security forces.

Since then, the signatories, who came to be known as Academics for Peace, have been subjected to vindictive and punitive attacks ordered by the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and implemented through joint efforts by the government and the higher education establishment.

We call on our friends to:

– Refrain from participating in joint projects and research collaborations with Turkish universities

– Pressure international academic institutions to sever all connections with Turkish academic institutions

Trade unions representing university staff should make a commitment to support the boycott of Turkish academic institutions.

Take Action:

If you are an artist, cultural worker or academic please sign the new Call to boycott Turkish government sponsored academic and cultural Institutions

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