Escaped Turkish academics : academics for peace to ask for help

A "call to urgent Action" Turkish scientists on Tuesday morning, on the Bebelplatz in front of Humboldt University, read. About 30 came to make on the occasion of the condemnation of the well-known political scientist Üstel Füsun to 15 months imprisonment on the continuing persecution of signers of a peace call for the Kurdish areas from January 2016 to the attention of.

Füsun Üstül taught until her retirement at the Galatasaray University in Istanbul, was one of around 2200 Signatories of the call to the "Academics for Peace". After the coup attempt against the Erdogan Regime in July 2016, the interrogations, dismissals, and arrests of professors and instructors began.

job at the Uni, pension claims, and the passport lost

Until today were affected 535 signatories, said in a recent call by the group "scholars for peace in Germany", the exiled, and exiled science was founded learning. Many of the Dismissed and has since been arrested, however, is cut off from abroad. You often have only your Life to state universities and their pension entitlements is lost, but the Turkish state has also confiscated their passports.

With the detention of Professor Üstel, the persecution had reached "a new level of quality," it says. Since the 5. December 2017, to be accused of 652 the Signatory because of "spreading Propaganda for a terrorist organization", and 137 of them for "guilty" found in "unfair" procedures, such as the Academics for Peace stress. The convictions of 15 to 36 months, had been suspended in 108 cases, with probation. 28 their detention had to compete. The before am now Füsun Üstel directly after the regional court of Istanbul have rejected an appeal against the verdict and the 15-month sentence.

Surprised at how tough the competition in Germany, the international community is on

The Initiative calls "to act quickly in solidarity with the academics for peace". The Academics for Peace appeal in particular to colleagues from the scientific community, to write to members of the German and European parliaments, as well as to human rights organizations and for Üstel and other Persecuted (to call it here).

Among the 30 protesters on the Bebelplatz, the solidarity is valued highly in Germany with the Phillpp-Schwartz-the Initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in or around the Berlin program for refugee Scholars. But, increasingly, despair.

"Many of us are surprised at how hard the competition is," says must afer Sener, a political scientist from Mersin who came as Philipp Schwartz scholarship for two years at the University of Bamberg. Scholarships or, at best, short-term contracts could provide the Exiles "there is no security or realistic perspective in Germany," says Sener. Many of those who were able to leave Turkey, have now lost their passports, because this would no longer be extended after the expiry of the period of validity of the embassies and consulates of Turkey.

Official expressions of solidarity

"German science is apolitical and has not understood our Situation," says Sener. He is, as a participant in the "conference on the freedom of science" in Berlin invited to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH). 300 refugees, Researchers and international experts to discuss, among other things, about the "support the career development of at-risk researchers." Germany and France have made within the framework of the conference a joint Declaration on the freedom of Science, with the help of which you call science organisations to do more for the Persecuted from all Parts of the world. The Alliance of German science organizations is launching these days a series of events "Together for the freedom of science" – on the occasion of the 70. Birthday of the basic law.

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But in practice it is too little happening to the persecuted scientists to be at least a medium-term career prospects in Germany, is on the Bebelplatz. And the call to the Participating AvH-conference, the rally on Tuesday to join tomorrow, is not just a hand full of Turkish colleagues followed.