In Turkey, academics asking for peace are accused of terrorism | Judith Butler and Başak Ertür
A petition asking Turkey to end violence against Kurds has been distorted by the president’s regime – and its signatories vilified. We must rally behind them
Last week the trials began in Istanbul of those who signed the Academics for Peace petition in January 2016. A total of 148 trials are scheduled through to May 2018, with new trials expected to be announced in the near future. Each focuses on a single individual, but the indictment is the same for all of them. If they are found guilty, each signatory faces a prison sentence of up to seven-and-a-half years.
In the petition, entitled “We will not be a party to this crime”, more than 2,000 signatories sought a negotiated solution to the military conflict between the (PKK). At a time and basic democratic principles, and accused the government of “deliberate and planned massacre and deportation”.
