I have been searching for evidence that supporters of the academic boycott of Israel will now launch an academic boycott of Turkey in light of the widespread purge of Turkish academia after the failed coup, destruction of civil society including the judiciary and media, suppression of Kurdish self-determination, and complicity in the Syrian civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands, among other offenses.
But so far, no luck in my search, just some hot air by American academics expressing outrage:
That purge now has passed 5,300 employees of Turkish higher ed, as reported by Inside Higher Ed:
Turkey’s Council of Higher Education announced Friday that a total of 5,342 university employees have been suspended since the July 15 coup attempt, according to reports in theDaily Sabah and The Hurriyet Daily News. A total of 4,225 academics and 1,117 administrative staff at public and private universities have reportedly been suspended from their positions as part of the government’s investigations into the failed coup. Many international higher education groups have expressed concerns about the government’s purges of the higher education sector.
Even more academics were subject to “legal actions,” bringing the total subject to the purge to 6792, according to a Turkish newspaper:
Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YÖK) has suspended more than 5,300 personnel over the probe into the July 15 failed coup attempt, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). YÖK announced that a total of 5,342 personnel had been suspended from state and private universities. Legal actions were taken into some 6,792 academic and administrative personnel, according to the statement released from YÖK. The statement also said that a state of emergency commission was formed in YÖK in accordance with the Prime Ministry’s related decision given after the declaration of a three-month long state of emergency. “Legal actions were launched into a total of 5,267 academic personnel from state and private universities, of whom suspension decisions were given for 4,225. Legal actions were launched into a total of 1,545 administrative personnel from state and private universities, of whom suspension decisions were given for 1,117,” the statement released from YÖK read.“We will continue to inform the public on the processes that are being carried out without leaving the legal framework and with great speed and meticulousness,” the statement also said.
Just today, 7 more academics were arrested:
We are approaching BDS season in American academia, when faculty associations will once again be asked to single out Israel for crimes it didn’t actually commit against academic freedom. Will there me a move against Turkish academic institutions? And Arab universities?
I’m against academic boycotts, but since BDS describes itself as a “tactic,” then why isn’t it an acceptable counter-tactic to force the organizations also to vote on an academic boycott of actual offenders of academic freedom?
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