BY JOHN K. WILSON

Earlier today, a Turkish court sentenced an academic, Yonca Demir from Bilgi University, to three years in prison for the crime of signing a peace petition critical of the government. It marked the longest sentence yet given to the 1128 professors who signed a 2016 petition by Academics for Peace that angered the Turkish government by opposing military operations in Turkey.

AcademeBlog has reported on this scandal, one of the largest attacks on academic freedom in world history, since it began in the wake of July 2016 failed coup in Turkey. Thousands of professors have been fired and banned from getting jobs, or even imprisoned, So far, 622 of the 1128 academics who signed the petition have been tried or are facing trial.

Can Candan, a film director who still teaches at a public university in Turkey, is one of those academics who signed the petition, and he spoke at Northwestern University today about the plight of academic freedom in Turkey. He noted, “I still hold my position, but some of our colleagues have been dismissed and sent to prison.” But he added, “maybe I’ll break the record” for length of sentence.

Outside Turkey, he said, “a lot of universities are hiring academics who have been fired to show solidarity.” But many Turkish academics are unwilling to leave their homeland, and unable to do so because the government has seized their passports to prevent them from going into exile.

Candan urged people to “make the government feel that these academics are part of an international network….who are fighting for the rights of academics, the rights of freedom of speech everywhere.” While some have called for a targeted academic boycott of Turkish universities, Candan urged universities to “call attention to what’s going on in Turkey. I think that’s the best thing universities can do.” Academics for Peace also has information about making donations to help these scholars facing repression by the government of Turkey.