The Science Academy, Turkey, strongly condemns the military attack of Russia on Ukraine, a sovereign and democratic state, violating all rules of international law and causing unprecedented harm to the basic tenets of the United Nations Charter. The Preamble of the Charter states its objective as ‘to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights […] of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained and for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and […] to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest,[…]’. It is shocking to see how blatantly these objectives are infringed by the Russian Government.
The aggression of the Russian Government against Ukraine is based on false excuses that run counter to historical and current facts. Such distortion of truth, or rather “creation” of new truths, is meanwhile commonplace in domestic and international politics, denying the very base of scientific truth, which we should all rely on to find a common language of peace.
Independence, peace, and democracy are not only the lifeline of people but also of science. Russia’s aggression has devastated the scientific infrastructure in Ukraine, jeopardizing the work of thousands of scientists. It has also alienated Russian scientific institutions from the international science community, threatening all voices[1] opposing this unlawful attack with harsh and undemocratic penalties.
We stand in solidarity with the People of Ukraine and urge the Russian Government to stop this ferocious and illegitimate attack at once and restore the international legal order it helped build almost 80 years ago.
Declared respectfully,
by the Executive Board of the Science Academy – Bilim Akademisi, Turkey
[1] A declaration by Russian Academicians and scientists can be found here.