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A Report on Academic Freedoms in Turkey in the Period of the State of Emergency

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A Report on Academic Freedoms in Turkey in the Period of the State of Emergency A Report on Academic Freedoms in Turkey in the Period of the State of Emergency İnan Özdemir Taştan & Aydın Ördek Translation Fahri Öz 2020 This project has been financed by EU funds. A Report on Academic Freedoms in Turkey in the Period of the State of Emergency İnan Özdemir Taştan & Aydın Ördek Translation: Fahri Öz This report has been written to outline the findings of the fieldwork launched within the framework of the project Bringing Human Rights Academy to Society funded by European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights (EIDHR) and conducted by the Capacity Development Association in order to reveal the effects of State of Emergency in Turkey on academic freedoms. © KAGED, 2020. Cannot }e used for ~ommer~ºal purposes. Pu}lºshed ºn Ankara. Thºs pu}lº~atºon Ŀas produ~ed Ŀºth the fºnan~ºal support of the European Unºon. Its ~ontents are the sole responsº}ºlºty of the authors and do not ne~essarºly refle~t the ľºeĿs of the European Unºon. Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................ iii List of Figures .............................................................................................. iv Foreword and Acknowledgements ............................................................. v INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 The History of Turkish Universities Incapacitated by Crises and Political Interventions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Academic Freedom and Autonomy ................................................................................................ 14 STUDY DESIGN ........................................................................................ 18 Method and Sampling ......................................................................................................................... 18 Questions ................................................................................................................................................. 20 Reliability Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 21 II. PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS: PRACTICES OF SELF- CONCEALMENT IN TIMES OF REPRESSION AND DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING DEMOGRAPHIC DATA ........................................... 22 III. ACADEMIC FREEDOMS BESIEGED BY PRESSURE AND CENSORSHIP IN UNIVERSITIES IN THE SoE PERIOD ................. 29 Universities Do Not Recognize Academic Freedom ................................................................ 29 Academics Do Not Feel Free While Lecturing .......................................................................... 30 Students as Informers: Obstacle to Academic Freedom .......................................................... 37 Academic Publications in the Grip of Pressure, Censorship and Self-censorship .......... 41 Academic Activities as a Risk Area ............................................................................................... 46 Barriers to Research and the Shrinking Academic Field ........................................................ 51 Taboos of the Academy or “Sensitivities”: Armenian “Issue”, Kurdish “Problem”, LGBTI+, and Religion ........................................................................................................................ 58 Freedom of Expression Under Control and Pressure ............................................................... 62 IV. JOB SECURITY AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF ACADEMICS IN THE SoE ...................................................................... 68 Dismissals, Lay-Offs, Security Investigations: Decreasing Job Security, Increasing Fears .......................................................................................................................................................... 68 Arbitrary Practices of Administrators, Investigations, Penalties, Pressures… ................ 75 A Permanent Means of Pressure: Mobbing ................................................................................. 80 Constantly Renewed Criteria for Assignment-Promotion, the Pressure for Performance and Projects ............................................................................................................................................ 87 i Threats to Life Safety .......................................................................................................................... 91 Pressures on Unionization ................................................................................................................. 99 V. NON-EXISTENT UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY ............................. 104 VI. THE “OTHERS” IN THE TURKISH ACADEMY: OPPONENTS, THOSE STUDYING SENSITIVE ISSUES, THOSE WITH DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, MINORITIES AND WOMEN .................................................................................................................... 113 VII. ACADEMICS’ EVALUATION OF THE SoE: EFFECT OF SoE ON ACADEMIC FREEDOMS AND THE FUTURE OF UNIVERSITIES ....................................................................................... 122 VIII. BEING A GRADUATE STUDENT IN THE SoE ....................... 128 Graduate Students Do Not Trust Graduate Exams ................................................................. 129 Freedom of Expression Under Pressure in Classes and Campuses .................................. 130 Pressures on Assignments and Thesis Research ..................................................................... 133 The Effect of the Decree Laws ..................................................................................................... 135 Rights Violations ............................................................................................................................... 139 Threats Targeting Students ............................................................................................................. 140 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 142 APPENDIX 1: Distribution of Academics Who Participated in In-depth Interviews in Terms of Provinces and Universities ............................... 147 APPENDIX 2: Semi-Structured In-Depth Interview Questions .......... 149 APPENDIX 3: Survey Form ................................................................... 151 REFERENCES ......................................................................................... 165 ii List of Tables Table 1: The distribution of participants to the provinces Table 2: Distribution of Participants by University Type and Academic Status Table 3: Gender of Participants Table 4: Academic Disciplines of the Participants Table 5: Education levels of the Participants Table 6: Academic Freedom in Classroom (Lectern Freedom) in the SoE Table 7: Interventions on Academics’ Courses and Pressure on Academics Table 8: Students’ BIMER / CIMER Complaints Table 9: Academic Freedom in Terms of Academic Publication in the SoE Table 10: Impeding Academic Publications Table 11: Academic Freedom in Terms of Academic Activities Table 12: Blocking Access to Academic Activities Table 13: Forms of Inhibition of Research Table 14: Social Media Use Among Academics in the SoE Table 15: Job Security in the Academy in the SoE Table 16: Problems That Academics Encountered in Terms of Job Security Table 17: Status of the Academics Against Administrators with Expanding Power Table 18: The Treatment Faced Due to Political / Academic Views Table 19: The Titles of the Academics Who Reported that They Were Mobbed During the SoE Period Table 20: Appointment and Promotion Criteria and Working Conditions Table 21: Academics’ Life Safety Table 22: Sources of Threats Towards Academics Table 23: Actions Against Threats Table 24: Union Rights Table 25: Participation in Decision Making Processes Table 26: Interventions to the Juries Table 27: The “Others” in the Academy and Rights Violations Table 28: Academics Facing Procedural Acts Due to Their Academic Activities Table 29: The Basic Practices or Results of the SoE Period Affecting Academic Freedoms According to the Academics Table 30: Sample of Students in the Survey Table 31: Students’ Opinions About Entrance Exams for Graduate Programs Table 32: Freedom of Expression Restricted on Campuses Table 33: Pressure on Students’ Assignments and Thesis Research Table 34: Effects of Dismissals with Decree Laws Table 35: Reasons for Violation of Academic Freedoms Table 36: Sources of Threat Targeting Students iii List of Figures Figure 1: Distribution of Academics by Staff Figure 2: Academic Freedom in Terms of Academic Publications Figure 3: Academic Freedom in Terms of Academic Activities Figure 4: The Level of Academic Researchers’ Ability to Carry Out Projects on the Subject They Want Figure 5: Self-Censorship in the Supervision of Postgraduate Theses Figure 6: Changing Academic Study Topic Due to Pressures Figure Figure 7: The Use of Social Media Among Academics Working in Public and Foundation Universities Figure 8: Distribution of Academics Who Reported That They Experienced Mobbing Before and During the SoE Period Figure 9: The Distribution of Academics Who Have Been Subjected to Mobbing Before and During the SoE in State and Foundation Universities Figure 10: Distribution by Gender of Academics Reported to Have Been Mobbed
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