Peace Block: Academics’ Freedom of Thought and Expression Can’t Be Restrained

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Peace Block has made a statement of solidarity with the academics who have been called “crappy so-called academics” by Erdoğan and against whom the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) has announced to launch investigations.

The statement issued on the social media account of the Peace Block has noted: “Academics for Peace, who have been turned into a target by the Government led by [Presidential] Palace, have expressed their demands for peace with courage and have taken a honourable stance.

The statement of the Peace Block is as follows:

“The 1,128 academics who have asked the state to abandon its policies of massacre and deportation of Kurdish peoples in particular and other peoples in the region, to prepare the conditions for negotiations and create a course of action that would lead to a lasting peace which includes the demands of the Kurdish political movement, have been targeted by the President  using expressions which include “so-called enlightened, gang, mandatary, dark and ignorant and tried to humiliate. Making it its business, YÖK has announced ‘necessary action will be taken’.

“The approach of the President and YÖK not only target the academics signing the manifesto titled ‘We will not be a party to this crime’ but the whole institution of university where thoughts are supposed to be expressed freely and enlightened staff of the society supposed to be raised.

“We have already experienced the current Government stigmatizing intellectuals opposing and criticizing government policies and calling them ‘crappy so-called intellectuals’.  Yet the intellectuals have maintained their stance being the moral compass of the society.

“As the Peace Block;

“We support the statement of the Academics for Peace group and reject the restriction of freedom of thought and expression.

“Like  they have said, ‘For the sake of peace, freedom and equality, ‘We also will not be party to this crime’ like they have said”.

Following the press statement of the academics titled “We will not be a party to this crime” and their demands to restart the negotiations, President Erdoğan had also made a statement yesterday (January 12) characterizing the academics as “mandatary”, “dark” and “crappy so-called academics”.

YÖK as well had announced “Necessary actions will be taken as to the academics”. (EA/DG)