Scholars charged with terrorism offences almost two years after signing anti-war petition

Turkish academics who signed an anti-war petition could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison after new charges were filed against them.

Almost two years after 1,128 people signed what has become known as the "Academics for Peace" petition in January 2016, which condemned military action in south-east Turkey, several of its signatories have been told they will face charges of “propagandising for a terrorist organisation”.

We write on behalf of 207 health professionals, academics, and researchers, and 25 health and human rights organisations from many countries (appendix). We wish to bring to the attention of The Lancet's readers alarming events taking place in Turkey, where the state has been waging a campaign of terror and punishment against thousands of health professionals and academics.

Full article: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(17)32093-7.pdf

As participants in the Prague conference “Philosophy & Social Science” who consider themselves part of the tradition of critical theory we express our deep concern about our colleagues in Turkey who have been dismissed by executive decrees without due process and legal recourse. We extend our solidarity to all persecuted academics and specifically to Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça who are on an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the injustice they have experienced.