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The European University Association (EUA) would like to express its concern for the academics in Turkey being investigated for expressing their views, under the petition “We Will not be a Party to this Crime”, on the conflict in the South-East region.
EUA would also like to underline that, irrespective of the content of the petition, freedom of expression is a core university value and a sine qua non of democratic societies. We therefore urge the government of Turkey to fully respect the right to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint as well as the Higher Education Council (YÖK) to withdraw its request to the rectors to open up an inquiry on the signatories.
More particularly, EUA is dismayed by the detainment of some signatory academics — even if they were released on the same day — most of them from Kocaeli University, an EUA member.Press Release: EUA deeply concerned about Turkey’s treatment of academicsIn addition, EUA has co-signed a public letter to the President of the Republic of Turkey expressing grave concern over the issue. The letter was signed by a coalition of 20 higher education networks and associations from around the world and was initiated by Scholars at Risk (SAR), an EUA affiliate.Joint public letter in support of Turkish higher education
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