Report: Turkey’s purge risks isolating its higher education from int’l academia


Date posted: November 8, 2016

Turkey’s purge of academics has already harmed the reputation of its higher education sector, the latest Free to Think report from the New York-based Scholars at Risk (SAR) noted adding that it risks greater damage by isolating Turkish scholars, students, and institutions from the international flow of ideas and talent.

Released on Oct. 31, SAR’s report chronicled 158 assaults and persecutions on higher education communities across 35 countries between May 2015 and Sept. 2016.

The government launched investigations against 1,128 scholars who signed to a public petition strongly condemning the former’s anti-terror policies in January, the report stated maintaining that many of those scholars have since been suspended and/or dismissed from their positions, while others have been detained, arrested, and prosecuted.

“Pressures on the higher education space in Turkey were compounded in July and August, when thousands of higher education professionals were caught up in sweeping actions taken in response to the failed July 15 coup attempt,” read the report.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement, inspired by Gülen. The movement strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

At least 6,337 academics have become jobless since the coup attempt either after the government shut down their universities or arrested or dismissed them.

The government equates critical inquiry and discourse with disloyalty and treason, according to the report.

“The government’s actions, beyond the harm done to the individuals targeted, have already harmed the reputation of Turkey’s higher education sector as a reliable partner for research projects, teaching and study exchanges, and international conferences and meetings. If not promptly reversed, these actions risk greater damage by isolating Turkish scholars, students, and institutions from the international flow of ideas and talent, further undermining Turkey’s position in the global knowledge economy and its stature in the world more generally,” the report underlined.

Source: Turkey Purge , November 6, 2016

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Censored by theft: Man caught stealing copies of Zaman daily

In the video footage, the young man is seen stealing three Zaman newspapers placed in the mail boxes of an apartment building. When asked by the subscriber who was filming why he was stealing the newspapers, the thief said his father was the AK Party’s Beylikdüzü provincial chairman and that his father had initiated the campaign against Zaman because it is defaming the party.

Unimpressed by Turkish ‘parallel structure’ defense, MEPs approve critical report

A EP committee has approved a report on Turkey that criticizes the government’s handling of a corruption investigation, despite a last-minute letter from the Turkish government claiming that a set of controversial measures taken in the wake of the probe were designed to fight a “parallel structure” within the state.

Who is Fethullah Gulen?

CNN’s Ivan Watson looks at Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric living in the US who President Erdogan squarely blames for the deadly failed

Fethullah Gulen condemns the coup attempt in Turkey

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey. Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.

Who staged a coup against whom on Dec. 17?

When its involvement in corruption and bribery became public, and that this seemed like the tip of an iceberg, the government thought that it must cover up the subsequent investigation, fearing that yet more investigations would be started — and so crushed the police force and the judiciary like a steamroller.

Gülen calls on followers to adapt to PM’s teaching center closures

“If they close your homes, you should open dorms. If they close your dorms, you will open new homes. If they close your schools, you will respond by opening a university. And when they close your university, you should open ten schools. You should never stop marching,” Gülen said in a video that was posted at Herkül.org, a website close to the movement.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Gulen Charter Schools Myth

European rights body says Turkey violated own constitution in post-coup crackdown

Turkey sees unprecedented pressure on media since Dec. 14 operation

Volunteer doctors from Turkey save lives in Somalia

Reactions pour in over Turks’ controversial arrest in Malaysia as UN joins calls against extradition

Two additional Turkish schools to open in Casablanca

The Remarkable Scale of Turkey’s “Global Purge”

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News