The War Against Academics for Peace
“They took my job, my career and my home from me,” said Serdar Değirmencioğlu, a former head of the psychology department at Istanbul’s Doğuş University. “That wasn’t enough, so they took my wife hostage. But they weren’t able to take my hope for peace and my power to fight back.”
Değirmencioğlu is one of hundreds of academics to have come under pressure from the state since 2016. Many have received prison sentences, or lost their jobs and their reputations – and all for signing a public statement calling for peace.