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A new decree law ordering the dismissal of 4,464 public servants was issued by the Turkish government on Tuesday; the dismissals included 330 academics.

It has emerged that half of the 330 academics purged with the new decree law signed the peace declaration criticising curfews in predominantly Kurdish southeastern districts in 2015 and early 2016.

As the only faculty member at Bingöl University to sign the Academics for Peace petition, Eda Erdener thought she would probably be investigated, and braced herself for an appearance before prosecutors. What she didn't prepare for was Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly assailing the signatories — labeling them terrorists and traitors. She also didn't expect to see the partisan press publish personal details alongside her photograph, or receive online messages from the military police, or have a black Jeep follow her constantly.

For Turkey’s academics, the new year began with a new wave of dismissals. With 2017 not yet a week old, 631 researchers and professors lost their jobs with the stroke of a pen.

In the course of the past year, thousands of Turkish scholars were fired or suspended in a similar manner, victims of the government’s sweeping purge following last summer’s failed coup. More than a dozen universities were simply shut down by decree.

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against a purge of thousands of education staff since an attempted coup in July, in front of the main campus of Istanbul University at Beyazit square in Istanbul. 

The crowd chanted "We will win by resisting" in front of Istanbul University as dozens of riot police wearing gas masks looked on. Teachers who had lost their jobs wept and hugged students.

Among those suspended or removed in the purges since July are nearly 50,000 educational staff. Under the coup probe, some 37,000 people have been jailed pending trial.