The new Turkey |
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23-jan-19 |
19 October 2018: In January 2016 1,128 Turkish academics calling themselves "Academics for Peace" signed a petition entitled “We will not be party to this crime” , during a period of heavy fighting in Turkey’s southeast between Turkish armed forces and militants associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The number of signatories later rose to over 2,000. The peace petition demanded a peaceful solution and criticised the Turkish security forces for a heavy-handed response that saw citizens confined under longstanding curfews and urban areas in predominantly Kurdish cities bombed. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has accused the signatories of making propaganda for the PKK, an armed group that has fought for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey. Many of the academics who signed the petition have been removed from their roles at universities, and 48 had hearings on Friday. Three signatories were handed suspended jail sentences last February.* |
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32 Turkish academics who signed a peace petition were called before a criminal court on Friday, where the prosecutor announced his recommendation that they face a prison sentence of up to seven-and-a-half years, Turkish news site Bianet reported.
