On 3 March 2019, the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice announced its first decision on an appeal against academics for signing the “We will not be party to this crime!” (Bu Suça Ortak Olmayacağız) peace petition prepared by Academics for Peace (Barış için Akademisyenler). In this ruling, the Court upheld an imprisonment sentence of one year and three months for Zübeyde Füsun Üstel, a political scientist retired from Galatasaray University. This ruling is the first to have exhausted all local remedies.

Francophone Professor Füsun Üstel has been imprisoned, as the first academic among 2,212 petitioners who signed the Peace Petition. So far, 610 petitioners are on litigation process before the court and Turkish courts gave a ruling for 186 academics. Thirty-three of those academics received prison sentences. 

As members of academic communities around the world, we strongly condemn the sentencing of Professor Zübeyde Füsun Üstel of Galatasaray University in İstanbul to 15 months in prison. Prof. Füsun Üstel was charged with “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” (Article No. 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law No. 3713), because she, together with over two thousand other academics in Turkey, signed the Academics for Peace statement “We will not be a party to this crime,” which criticized military actions in the Kurdish regions of the country.[1] Prof.

Academic freedom, freedom of expression and political rights are denied in Turkey. Academics for Peace are in jail and show trials continue. Journalists, lawyers, women, political party leaders and activists, trade unionists, doctors are also targeted.

“Turkey is incarcerating its academics!” 

This is what Tuna Altınel (Claude Bernard University of Lyon 1, France) wrote to the European solidarity networks on 8 May 2019, as Füsun Üstel was taken into prison in Eskişehir. 

A campaign of silencing and prosecution is creating a vacuum at a pivotal moment.

For the past two decades, the Turkish academic Ayse Gul Altinay has been providing, through her writing and research, incisive analysis of the impact of violence on her country. Her work offered a better understanding of how conflict has passed through generations and was beginning to build a blueprint on how to break this cycle.

Kamuoyuna,

Değerli mütevellimiz ve yönetim kurulu üyemiz Prof.Dr. Füsun Üstel'e bütün kesimler adına sürdürülebilir barış için imzaladığı metin gerekçe gösterilerek 1 yıl 3 aylık hapis cezası verildi.

Bu kararı, düşünce ve ifade özgürlüğü açısından, akademik ortamın esenliği açısından, kamu vicdanı açısından yaralayıcı ve karartıcı buluyoruz.

Füsun Üstel, respected academic in history, nationalism and issues of identity, is the first of the Academics for Peace to be imprisoned for signing the “We will not be party to this crime!” petition. This ruling will likely influence the pending cases of other  Academics for Peace. Despite the threat of imprisonment, Üstel stood up for her belief that condemning human rights violations or calling for peace is not a crime.

The Association for Science, Art, Education, Research and Solidarity (BirAraDa) has organized a postcard workshop in solidarity with imprisoned Academics for Peace Füsun Üstel and Tuna Altınel, who have been behind bars for over 50 days.

Established by the joint initiative of the Solidarity Academies' Coordination (DAK), the Association for Science, Art, Education, Research and Solidarity (BirAraDa) has organized a workshop in support for imprisoned Academics for Peace Füsun Üstel and Tuna Altınel.