Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere said that the academics who signed the declaration “We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime” demonstrated the undeniable reality that within universities there exists a considerable number of academics who do not submit, who are willing to risk everything for human rights, democracy and freedom, who raise the voice of peace, propose democratic solutions and demand an immediate end to war. Yeşildere also stated that this process revealed those who obeyed unquestioningly within a chain of command and those who submitted to authority, and emphasized that in their current state, universities in Turkey do not seem capable of contributing to a process of social peace.
A movement that began in academia in Turkey in 2016 became the largest peace initiative the country had seen until that time. A total of one thousand one hundred and twenty-eight academics issued a statement calling on the Turkish state to abandon its war policies against the Kurds and to establish peace. The statement became known in Turkish history as the Peace Academics Declaration. Following the declaration, the academics were targeted by the government and its media. They were dismissed from their universities. Some were arrested, some were forced into exile, some took their own lives, and some were forced to sustain their lives by working as street vendors. Following the historic call on 27 February, the actions of the academics once again brought attention to the fact that after 2016, the government completely hollowed out academia. Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yeşildere, who was expelled from his university for being a Peace Academic, spoke to ANF about what the Peace Academics experienced and his views on the new process.
Freedom was being destroyed
Prof. Yeşildere recalled that period as follows: “Turkey had been one of the parties to the cross-border war in the Middle East, centred in Syria, for five years. In July 2015, the state also ended the ceasefire that had been in place within the country for nearly two years. Between the elections of 7 June and 1 November, hundreds of people lost their lives in military operations and clashes. After the formation of the new government, curfews, armed conflict and administrative and military practices that violated the right to life of the people increased, particularly in provinces where Kurds make up the majority.
The internal conflict and social polarisation that marked the past forty-six years of Turkey’s history caused indescribable losses for the peoples of this geography. Nature, human life and society suffered irreparable damage and continued to suffer until the last peace process. Violence, unrestrained by any moral principle, became normalized and passed down from generation to generation, leading to a destructive social trauma.”
It was also reflected in the universities
Yeşildere said, “The understanding of governance at the time, which imposed internal conflict almost as a necessity, was directly reflected in university campuses. With the escalation of internal conflict, violence fuelled by a security-oriented style of administration, especially following the enactment of the Internal Security Law, reached unprecedented levels. In various universities, faculty buildings were raided almost daily by hundreds of riot police and special operations units, and students as well as lecturers were threatened. There was not a single day on some campuses without ill-treatment or detentions. As interventions in course content and exam questions increased, and investigations and criminal cases were launched on this basis, the very meaning of academic freedom was being completely destroyed.”
It was an academic responsibility
Prof. Yeşildere said, “When one part of a country is on fire, any reasonable person knows that the fire will not remain confined to that place. In the process leading up to the 1 November elections and afterwards, attacks against civilians, the growing tension fuelled by elections, and the violent blockades that followed, which caused civilian casualties, houses destroyed, women, elderly people and children killed, people forcibly displaced from their homes, created a psychological and social atmosphere in which those one thousand one hundred and twenty-eight signatures in academia suddenly emerged.
In this country, despite everything, despite all this repression, while hundreds of thousands still take to the squares on 1 May, while workers still take to the streets when tragedies like Soma happen, while there is still a powerful and vibrant women’s movement, while Kurds and Alevis exist, while the oppressed exist, while the resistance of LGBT individuals continues, while tens of thousands still gather to demand ‘Justice for Hrant,’ while a great uprising like the Gezi Resistance has taken place in history, academics came together with the sense that something had to be done out of academic responsibility to stop this war and internal conflict, to raise the voice of social peace, and to reopen the path back to the peace process.”
822 academics were prosecuted
Yeşildere also said, “The President described these academics as ‘so-called intellectuals, ignorant in darkness.’ He not only called on the Council of Higher Education and prosecutors to launch investigations, but also said, ‘Those who eat the bread of this state and betray this state must be punished.’ The Council of Higher Education then claimed that the declaration ‘supported terrorism’ and announced that action would be taken against these academics. Following this instruction, universities also acted accordingly and did not hesitate to carry out unlawful investigations. The number of initial signatories, which was one thousand one hundred and twenty-eight, later rose to two thousand two hundred and ten, but eight hundred and twenty-two academics were prosecuted. Four hundred and six academics were dismissed by statutory decree. Of the three hundred and seventy-seven Peace Academics who were dismissed by statutory decree and filed lawsuits against the state for reinstatement, only one hundred and fifty-eight received reinstatement decisions. Despite the ruling of the Constitutional Court, only forty-nine of them were reinstated to their positions, while two hundred and thirty-two are still waiting in a state of dismissal. In the related trials, one hundred and forty-six academics were sentenced to fifteen months in prison; ten academics to eighteen months; eighteen academics to twenty-two months; five academics to twenty-five months; seventeen academics to twenty-seven months; seven academics to thirty months; and one academic to thirty-six months. The case files of a number of academics were taken to the Court of Appeal.”
There were those who refused to submit
Prof. Yeşildere said that despite all the pressure, the fact that the number of signatories of the declaration “We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime” exceeded two thousand clearly demonstrated that academia did not remain silent in the face of oppression. He continued:
* “First, it showed that within universities in Turkey there exists a highly conscious group of academics who refuse to submit, who are willing to risk everything for human rights, democracy and freedom. Turkey saw the undeniable reality that there is a substantial academic community that raises the voice of peace, proposes democratic solutions and demands an immediate end to war.
* Second, it demonstrated that universities are autonomous, that we express our thoughts freely within academic freedom. We do not submit, we oppose all forms of tutelage. Universities belong to us, and they will be liberated with us.
* Third, it exposed the administrators who submitted and those who acted within a chain of command. It also revealed a powerful spirit in the fact that the majority of the signatories were academics who were not Kurdish, yet despite the pressure from the government and the Council of Higher Education, they signed this declaration. In other words, they broke the imposed mindset.”
Support continued after the arrests
Prof. Yeşildere recalled that despite the government’s attacks, support continued even after the arrests and continued: “There is another point that the state failed to understand here. Academia is deeply connected with the international academic community. After all, all of us attend international conferences and publish in international journals. Support poured in for the academics from international academic circles, universities, scientific institutions, research organisations, politicians, ambassadors from the European Union and every sensitive circle. External solidarity created pressure. Inside the country as well, solidarity grew steadily. The vigils turned into massive gatherings in front of prisons, into forums that grew larger over time. This meant the exact opposite of what the other side had intended. Their goal was to intimidate and silence us, yet neither we nor our friends inside were intimidated, nor were the people outside silenced. Groups that were supposedly never meant to come into contact with one another began to meet in front of those prisons. Street Academies and Solidarity Academies were founded, and solidarity reached its highest level.”
The policy of excluding academics from universities continues
Yeşildere also said, “What did the state do? Under the pretext of the State of Emergency and through Statutory Decrees, it removed the signatories and progressive democratic academics from universities and suspended them. Through rectors and deans who submitted to the Council of Higher Education, new investigations were launched against academics who had not received any penalties from the initial investigations and had been reinstated in their positions, and they were once again suspended from universities during these investigations. This process is still ongoing.”
Universities remain silent in the new process today
Prof. Tahsin Yeşildere, noted that in the new process being experienced today, academia has not shown the same reflex it demonstrated in 2016, and he explained the silence of universities as follows: “This is the unbearable result of a policy that goes back many years. It began with the 12 September military coup, and with the Justice and Development Party (AKP), universities were turned into the backyard of political power. Within universities themselves, unethical behaviour, corruption and disempowerment stemming from internal power relations and the pursuit of proximity to political power among academics have also been significant factors in this situation. Universities have distanced themselves from society and social issues in the regions where they are located, and they have failed to integrate with urban life. At the same time, under a reactionary political structure and the pressure of political power, they have fallen into a political degeneration that may become impossible to repair in the future. As a result, universities must inevitably be freed from the ‘grip of politics, religion and the market’ in order to compensate for the erosion of their fundamental duty to produce science freely, their academic freedom, democratic and autonomous structure, and quality in education and teaching, an erosion that has emerged through the systemic policies implemented since the 12 September coup and the processes that followed. Therefore, universities trapped in this squeeze are currently unable to contribute to the solution process with either positive or negative views.”
The university must explain this to society
Prof. Yeşildere emphasized that it is the duty of universities to explain to society that, according to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which Turkey has also signed, not only harmless or favourable opinions, but also views that may be disturbing or even shocking (as long as they do not incite violence) fall within the scope of freedom of expression. He continued: “The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also adopted resolutions in this direction. Although the concept of human rights in general, and freedom of thought in particular, have influenced Turkish legislation through international law, they have not been sufficiently internalised by the judiciary and a large part of society, including universities. The concern that broad boundaries of freedom of thought will lead society into chaos and pose a threat to order is frequently expressed by those who govern the state, by some conservative and fascist politicians, fascist individuals, sections of the written and visual media, the judiciary and even university administrators. Researchers state that freedom of thought theoretically consists of three fundamental elements: access to opinions and information (the right to receive news and obtain information), freedom from being condemned for one’s thoughts (freedom of conviction), and the freedom to express, disseminate and communicate one’s ideas to others (freedom of expression). Today, even universities are far removed from these concepts, and therefore it does not seem possible for them to contribute to a process of social peace.”
To be continued…