ENGLISH

It is with great shock and distress that we hear of our colleague from the University of Sabanci, Ayse Gül Altinay’s sentencing to 25 months in prison for ‘willingly and knowingly supporting a terrorist organisation as a non-member’.

Ayşe Gül Altınay, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Gender and Women’s Studies Centre at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, and editorial board member of the European Journal of Women’s Studies, has been sentenced to 25 months in prison, accused of propagandizing for a terrorist organization by signing the statement “We will not be a party to this crime”, prepared by Academics for Peace. In Turkey and elsewhere, activists and thinkers are under attack.

The Turkish government is prosecuting hundreds of academics who signed a petition by a group called "Academics for Peace" advocating a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict. It is part of the on-going crackdown on free expression and speech in the country. A beloved academic and renowned scholar, Ayse Gul Altinay, was last week sentenced to 25 months in prison by the Istanbul 25th Heavy Penal Court. Dr. Altinay is noted for her commitment to a peaceful future for her country shaped by nonviolence, democracy, and a commitment to human equality.

Our colleague Ayse Gül Altinay, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Gender and Women’s Studies Center at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, was sentenced to 25 months in prison earlier this week. She is one of over 2200 Academics for Peace who three years ago signed a statement “We will not be a party to this crime” appealing for an end to violent state-sponsored persecution of Kurdish citizens of Turkey. The investigation in Istanbul has covered only the first 1200 signatories so far, but it might be extended to the second 1000 as well.