Academics for Peace not able to return to posts despite top corut ruling, says MP

Sevilay Çelenk, an MP for the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), addressed the press at the parliament, shedding light on the seven-year legal battle of the Academics for Peace.

Çelenk highlighted that nearly 400 out of the 2,212 academics who signed the declaration titled "We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime" in 2016 were dismissed from their professions and public duties. She pointed out that those academics who returned to their positions after the Constitutional Court's rulings in favor of their rights were once again "suspended."

Referencing the Constitutional Court's decisions on violations of rights, Çelenk stated:

"After seven years, we are faced with the harsh reality that the Academics for Peace, who were reinstated following a nightmarish legal process, cannot return to their positions. Out of 377 academics who applied to the court, 157 faced rejection, 162 received approval, and decisions are pending for 67 academics. 

"At the appeals stage, for the 162 academics whose applications were accepted, an injunction to suspend the dismissal was issued for 11, while the dismissal was upheld for seven academics. These figures alone expose the inconsistencies and contradictions in the treatment of academics. The current state of the seven-year legal struggle of Peace Academics is distressing." (RT/VK)