The Science Academy Statement on the Gezi Park Events is as follows:
“In the context of the protests which started at Gezi Park in Istanbul at the end of May to later spread across the country, The Science Academy sees serious problems in terms of freedoms of association, expression and acquiring information, and the implementation of decisions and policies based on information.
The government has insisted on taking action without regard for expert opinions and criticisms, in a violent manner intolerant of different perspectives, which was very worrying as regards the protection of peace and democracy. Accordingly, we are deeply concerned about the course of events.
This style of politics, opposed today by wide masses, also has a highly worrying impact on academic work. As the number of imprisoned students rises, academics who oppose the policies in place on academic or political grounds are faced with warnings and threats of prosecution from within and outside universities, and institutions who are supposed to support scientific work reject various projects on non-scientific grounds, it becomes ever harder to protect the academic freedom required by science. (…) As scientists, we feel obliged to express our concern seeing that these ideological and political interventions have reached such a degree so as to prevent us from carrying out our practice in a healthy manner.”
