Support for Turkey’s Higher Education Community

Scholars at Risk is gravely concerned about the sweeping actions taken against Turkey’s higher education sector since the July 15 coup attempt.

Forced resignations, suspensions, detentions, and travel bans have reportedly affected thousands of individuals, in Turkey and abroad, and threaten the future of higher education in Turkey. In an August 2 letter of appeal SAR expressed grave concern over reports that hundreds of higher education professionals from over a dozen institutions have been detained incommunicado since the attempted coup and are at serious risk of torture and ill-treatment. SAR invites you show your support for detained scholars by signing our letter of appeal.

Since the coup attempt, an unprecedented number of Turkey’s scholars are facing threats to their careers, well-being, and constitutional right to academic freedom. Scholars at Risk has received over 300 applications from scholars from Turkey since July 15, more than we received from Turkey in the first 15 years of SAR’s existence. To apply for assistance or to refer a threatened colleague to SAR, please visit our Get Help page.

What you can do

Universities, associations, and higher education professionals around the world have expressed support for their colleagues in Turkey and are seeking ways to act. SAR has put together the below list of ways to take action in support of Turkey’s higher education community.

Higher education & foreign ministries, UN & inter-state entities

Raise these issues with counterparts from and in Turkey
Place these issues on the agenda of appropriate international meetings
Offer material support to targeted higher education professionals, students and institutions
Support advocacy and education aimed at raising the visibility of these issues

Higher education leadership, associations, networks and institutions

Raise these issues with counterparts from and in Turkey
Raise these issues with home government officials, UN and interstate entities
Place these issues on the agenda of appropriate national and international meetings
Organize or join statements of support for Turkey’s scholars, students and institutions
Commission articles or interviews on these issues for your magazines, newsletters and blogs
Organize or join public programming and events on these issues
Organize or join delegations to discuss these issues with counterparts in Turkey
Offer material support, including temporary fellowships, scholarships or visitorships, to targeted higher education professionals and students

Faculty & staff

Raise these issues with counterparts from and in Turkey
Raise these issues with home government officials, UN and interstate entities
Raise these issues within your institution and professional associations
Place these issues on the agenda of appropriate institutional and professional meetings
Organize or join statements of support for Turkey’s scholars, students and institutions
Organize or join public programming and events on these issues
Write Op-eds, articles and essays for print and online media and institutional and professional association magazines, newsletters and blogs
Encourage your institutions to offer material support, including temporary fellowships, scholarships or visitorships, to targeted higher education professionals and students
Refer targeted higher education professionals seeking assistance to SAR
Report incidents in Turkey or elsewhere to the SAR Academic Freedom Monitoring Project
Lead a SAR Student Advocacy Seminar focused on academic freedom in Turkey
Follow SAR on Facebook and Twitter, and share relevant posts with friends and colleagues
Support advocacy and education aimed at raising the visibility of these issues by making a contribution to SAR

Students

Organize or join statements of support for Turkey’s scholars, students and institutions
Organize or join public programming and events on these issues on your campus
Encourage your institutions to offer material support, including temporary fellowships, scholarships or visitorships, to targeted higher education professionals and students
Organize a SAR Student Advocacy Seminar focused on academic freedom in Turkey
Follow SAR on Facebook and Twitter, and share relevant posts to keep your friends in the know
Support advocacy and education aimed at raising the visibility of these issues by making a contribution to SAR

For additional information, please contact us.

Read SAR’s July 19 statement on events in Turkey

Sign our letter of appeal on behalf of detained scholars in Turkey