Academic for Peace Tuna Altınel receives his passport

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Put on trial for "being a member of a terrorist organization" and acquitted in January 2020, Assoc. Prof. Tuna Altınel, a lecturer at Lyon-1 University and an Academic for Peace, has received his passport.

Making a statement on Twitter, Altınel has said: 

"Yesterday, I took back my passport after more than two years. It is said to be valid. I would like to thank everyone who has expressed solidarity and support until this stage. The struggle for peace, justice and democracy continues. I would also like to say this: The administrative court decision which enabled me to receive my passport has been taken to the court of appeals. The ruling to be handed by the appeals court will determine my situation. But I have the right to use my passport unless otherwise ruled."

Dün, iki yılı aşkın bir süreden sonra pasaportumu geri aldım. Geçerli olduğu söylendi. Bu aşamaya gelene kadar dayanışma ve destek gösteren herkese teşekkür ederim. Barış, adalet, demokrasi mücadelesi sürüyor.

— Tuna ALTINEL (@TunaALTINEL) May 28, 2021

What happened?

Assoc. Prof. Tuna Altınel from the Department of Mathematics at Lyon-1 University was arrested in Turkey's western province of Balıkesir on May 11, 2019 on the grounds of a conference held in France.

Altınel was taken into custody on May 10, when he went to the Balıkesir Civil Registry to inquire about the restriction imposed on his passport. Being referred to court on duty by the Prosecutor's Office to be arrested, the academic was arrested and sent to Kepsut Type L Prison.

The academic was charged with "membership of a terrorist organization" on the ground that he did simultaneous interpreting at a conference on "Cizre basements"* held in France in 2019.

In his first hearing on July 30, the court ruled for the release of Tuna Altınel without imposing any judicial control measures. Though no international travel ban has been imposed on the academic, his confiscated passport has not yet been returned to him without any legal grounds.

Altınel was acquitted on January 24, 2020.

About Assoc. Prof. Tuna Altınel

Arrested and imprisoned in Turkey, Assoc. Prof. Tuna Altınel is an academic who has made significant contributions to the academia in universities abroad, primarily in France since 1996.

Altınel graduated from the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul. He completed his PhD studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey, with Cherlin as his doctoral advisor.

With Alexandre Borovik and Gregory Cherlin, he proved an important example of Cherlin-Zilber conjecture. Having published 26 articles in his field so far, Altınel is specialized in group theory and mathematical logic. (KÖ/SD)