IIPPE statement on the crackdown on its members in Turkey

IIPPE Council has been concerned with events in Turkey in the wake of the failed coup. In particular, we condemn the restrictions and pressures that have been placed upon our own members, which have meant that significant numbers have been unable to attend our Annual Conference in Lisbon in September, 2016. We are also disturbed by the potential threat to the health of political economy and political economists in Turkey, and support the efforts of TSSA to sustain its presence in Turkish academic and social life as part and parcel of its more general endeavours to promote social science in Turkey.

In this light, IIPPE supports the statement made by TSSA itself:

The Future of Academia is the Future of Our Country

The crackdown on the academics who have been striving for democracy, freedoms, and secular education in Turkey has been of utmost concern. The purge of progressive academics by expelling them from their posts and/or forcing them to work without job security, and most unacceptable of all, banning them from public service for good could not be reconciled with the fundamental principles of a secular and democratic order under the rule of law. Turkish Social Sciences Association (TSSA), having defended academic freedoms for the development of a democratic and progressive academic environment since its foundation 49 years ago, condemns those non-democratic measures, which aim to pacify critical thinking in our society. We consider them threatening not only academic freedoms but also the future of our country.


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