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Erdogan’s regime

Grave Violations of Children’s Rights Under Turkey’s Repressive Regime Post-2016 Coup

Introduction

A period in which justice was suspended began in Turkey on July 15, 2016. During this process, 952 individuals were identified as having lost their lives, 152,000 civil servants were dismissed, more than 500,000 people were arrested, and over 3,000 children were forced to grow up in prison with their mothers. According to the latest official figures, 552 children are still in prison with their mothers. Problems such as job loss, deprivation of liberty, ostracization by the state and society, exclusion, and condemnation to absolute poverty have caused the disintegration of thousands of families.

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Beyond Turkey’s Borders: Unveiling Global Purge, Transnational Repression, Abductions

The Origins of the Problem

Turkey’s pursuit of alignment with the principles of the European Union has been marred by the government’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies, particularly since 2011. Regrettably, the country has witnessed a rapid decline, distancing itself further from the realm of modern democracy. Since 2014, Turkey’s Freedom Index score has plummeted due to a series of escalating assaults on press freedom, social media users, protesters, political parties, the judiciary, and the electoral system. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sought to establish personalized control over the state and society within a deteriorating domestic and regional security environment.

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Freedom Convention 2022

Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, Turkish government has been carrying out profound human rights violations against hundreds of thousands of people – from arbitrary deprivation of the right to work and to freedom of movement, to torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detentions and infringements of the rights to freedom of association and expression.

AST, deeply concerned about Turkey’s government’s disregard of human rights, has been organizing The Freedom Convention since 2020. Remarking on the international covenants, of which Turkey is a state party, this year the convention will address the arbitrary deprivation of civil and political rights and crack down on freedom of expression in Turkey.

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THE CURRENT SITUATION OF PRISONS

Under the political Islamist Erdoğan regime, which has been ruling Turkey since 2002, the number of prisons reached the highest level in history. With Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) abandoning libertarian discourse and policies and turning to one-man rule in the country, it is striking that prison populations have also increased. The prisons were filled with political prisoners far exceeding their current capacity especially after the failed coup attempt in 2015, with the crackdown carried out against the members of the Gülen movement, an international, voluntary-based education and dialogue community, which the Turkish government designated as a terror organization after the corruption allegations in 2013.

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WOMEN’S RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY THE TURKISH LEGAL SYSTEM

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The intent of this report is to declare the victims of the ‘New Turkey,’ especially women with children who have been under persecution since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Although the Turkish government does not promote transparent data on the number of children imprisoned with their mothers, there are 864 children in the prison according to the Justice Department Prison and Penitentiaries Management. The ages of these children vary between newborns to 6 years, as of May 24, 2019.

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ERDOGAN’S LONG ARMS: ABDUCTIONS IN TURKEY AND ABROAD


The Origins of the Problem

Turkey’s struggle to draw the country more in line with the pillars of the European Union faced a long and accelerating slide. The country’s Freedom in the World score has been in free fall since 2014 due to an escalating series of assaults on the press, social media users, protesters, political parties, the judiciary, and the electoral system, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fought to impose personalized control over the state and society in a deteriorating domestic and regional security environment.

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SCIENTIFIC REGRESSION IN TURKEY IN THE AFTERMATH OF JULY 15th –1: ERCİYES UNIVERSITY

The alleged coup attempt of the July 15th struck the real impact in the field of education. The most important pillars of education, universities were closed, thousands of educated academics were discharged overnight without any reason, and even sent to prisons. This study analyzes the negative effects of the academic slaughter that took place in one of Turkey’s most reputable universities after the July 15th, The Erciyes University.

Erciyes University was founded in 1978 under the name of Kayseri University. It was renamed Erciyes University in 1982. Today, Erciyes University serves with 19 faculties, 1 college, 2 vocational schools, 7 institutes, 6 departments, 44 research centers, and an advanced practice hospital with 1350 beds. In addition to Gevher Nesibe Hospital, Cardiovascular Diseases Hospital, Organ Transplantation and Dialysis Hospital, Oncology Hospital, Children’s Hospital and Bone Marrow Transplant and Stem Cell Treatment Center are the most important health institutions of the region. Approximately 65,000 students receive education [1]. In addition, Melikşah University, which was closed unlawfully on 23 July 2016, was transferred to Erciyes University and the campus of MELİKŞAH University was named “Erciyes University, The July 15th Campus” [2].

The toll numbers reached 6070 just for public university academics in Turkey after the July 15th [3]. 2,808 academics in 15 terminated foundation universities were not included in this number. 144 people, namely 6% of the total academics, were discharged from the 2398 academics at ERCIYES University after the so-called coup attempt. The distribution of the discharged academics regarding their ranks has given in Table 1.

ACADEMIC TITLE   #of DISCHARGED
Professor 27
Assoc. Prof. 31
Assist. Prof. 35
Instructor 10
Research Fellow 40
Expert 1
TOTAL 144

Table 1 Academic ranking of the discharged professors at Erciyes University

Objective measurement of scientific contributions of academics is widely used to understand the quality of universities and countries in the world. Google Scholar [4] is an important open source where researchers can track their publications, citation numbers, and index values. In this analysis, the Google Scholar criterion was taken to examine the scientific contributions of the discarded academics. The average number of citations of the discarded academics was calculated as 891.83, which is quite impressive. For example, Professor SALİH ÖZGÖÇMEN has 10261; Assistant Professor KAZIM ZİYA GÜMÜŞ has 10159 citations.

In addition to that, an important demonstration of broad success to be underlined is that 24 academics have more than 500 citations, as well as 52 academics, have more than 100 citations. In addition to the number of citations, the index values of the dismissed academics were also examined. H-index is more reliable in measuring qualified scientific contributions since it measures the number of publications and citation efficiency together. Academic Data Management publishes the h-index numbers within the system. But instead of publishing all the academics, they list the first 20 with the highest citations in their field [5]. According to the current figures of the Academic Data Management System, the average h-index of 20 academicians with the highest h-index number of ERCİYES University is calculated as 14. The h-index average of the dismissed academics was found to be 13.10, which clearly shows their contribution to ERCIYES University.

Despite the fact that only 6% of the academics at ERCIYES University were discharged after the alleged coup of the July 15th, and all the facilities and infrastructure of MELIKSAH University were seized, a 17% dramatic decline in the ranking of the academic achievement in the world could not be prevented [10]. The above information shows clearly, how the alleged coup attempt impacted the scientific research in ERCIYES University and Turkey.

REFERENCES

1.https://www.erciyes.edu.tr/kategori/ERU -HAKKINDA/Tarihce/2/58
2.https://www.erciyes.edu.tr/Duyuru-Haber/ Kapatilan-Meliksah-UniversitesiYerleskesine-%E2%80%9CErciyes-Universitesi -15-/5579
3.http://bianet.org/bianet/ifadeozgurlugu/198990-akademide-ihraclar-6-bin81-e-yukseldi
4.https://scholar.google.com/
5.https://avesis.erciyes.edu.tr/raporlar/ atiflar/h-indeksi-en-yuksek-olanakademisyenler
6.https://www.haberler.com/40-yil-erzurum -da-hizmet-verdi-simdi-kayseri-nin-haberi/
7.http://drkuk.net/dr-kuk-hakkinda/
8.https://twitter.com/docmustafatutak/ status/1276919068621225984/photo/1
9.https://www.veteknoloji.net/haber/ elektromanyetik-dalgalara-etkili-kumas51455.html

 


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HIGHLIGHTS FROM TURKEY 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT BY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The United States Department of State released Turkey 2019 Human Rights Report which has critical points regarding human rights violations in Turkey.

For Example;

  • As many as 100 persons, including former members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed under the 2016-18 state of emergency decrees due to suspected ties to the Gulen movement, were mistreated or tortured while in police custody.
  • 780 Children including children younger than six years of age were being held in prison with their mothers.
  • The government did not release data on its investigations into alleged torture. Some doctors would not sign their names to medical reports alleging torture due to fear of reprisal. As a result, victims were often unable to get the medical documentation that would help prove their claims.
  • On the three-year anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, the government announced that 540,000 individuals had been detained since the coup attempt on grounds of alleged affiliation or connection with the Gulen movement.
  • There were 41,000 individuals in prison for terror-related crimes. Of these, 28,000 were Gulen movement-related.
  • The government exerts power in the administration of 90 percent of the most-watched television stations and most-read national daily newspapers.

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THE WOMEN WHO SURVIVED THE TURKEY PURGE

A Graphic Novel about the women who survived after the long journey in Turkey’s dictatorial regime.

After the alleged coup attempt of July 15, 2016, thousands of people lost their jobs and were subjected to court trials and proceedings on the grounds that they were Hizmet Movement followers. Hundreds of people, who do not have a hope to survive in this grueling atmosphere in Turkey, are striving to leave the country illegally by venturing into the risk of crossing the border and facing death in order to live freely. There were people who drowned in this difficult and harsh journey.

Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST), as a non-governmental organization that runs its activities on a voluntary basis, has made it a mission to champion the rights of Silenced Turkey until universal human rights and democratic governance are established and sustained as the utmost priorities of the Republic of Turkey.

This graphic novel was created by a high school student with inspiration from real stories on the APH project.

Graphic Novel PDF

Turkish Version PDF Link


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SRW TÜRKİYE’DE 2016-2020 YILLARI ARASI AKADEMİK BAŞARI DEĞİŞİM RAPORU

Bu çalışma, 2016 darbe teşebbüsü ile başlayan olağanüstü hâl yönetimi ve KHK’ların Türkiye’deki üniversitelerin başarı değişimini analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Türkiye’de 15 Temmuz 2016’da meydana gelen sözde darbe teşebbüsünden sonra çıkan 11 KHK ile toplamda 6,070 akademisyenin 122 devlet kurumundaki işlerine son verildi [1]. Ayrıca 15 vakıf üniversitesinin de tamamen kapatılması ile 2,808 akademisyen daha bu sayıya eklendi [2] ve resmi rakamlara göre; toplamda 8,878 akademisyenin görevlerine son verildi. Türkiye’deki akademisyen sayısı 15 Temmuz öncesi 64,488 olarak görülmektedir ve eğitim sisteminde bir akademisyenin yetişmesi için lisans ve lisansüstü çalışmalar göz önüne alındığında ortalama 12 yıl gibi bir zaman ve emek harcanması gerekmektedir. OECD raporlarına göre ise bir insanın ilköğretimden başlayarak akademisyen olana kadarki harcama miktarı ise ortalama olarak 124,448 Amerikan doları seviyesindedir [3].

Universite Atilan Toplam Akademisyen Sayisi Toplam Akademisyen Sayisi Atilan Oran(%)
Abant Izzet Baysal 78 1333 5.9
Adiyaman 67 862 7.8
Adnan Menderes 54 1726 3.1
Afyon Kocatepe 93 1360 6.8
Akdeniz 115 2492 4.6
Anadolu 68 2188 3.1
Ankara 133 3732 3.6
Atatürk 152 2703 5.6
Balikesir 67 1032 6.5
Bülent Ecevit 71 1287 5.5
Çanakkale 18 Mart 205 1653 12.4
Celal Bayar 140 1651 8.5
Cumhuriyet 56 1858 3
Dicle 172 1935 8.9
Dokuz Eylül 46 3381 1.4
Dumlupınar 168 1239 13.6
Ege 45 3175 1.4
Erciyes 145 2398 6
Erzincan 54 916 5.9
Eskişehir Osmangazi 46 1542 3
Fırat 47 1741 2.7
Gazi 233 3982 5.9
Gaziantep 128 1644 7.8
Gaziosmanpaşa 59 1286 4.6
Gebze Teknik 19 154 12.3
Hacettepe 74 3720 2
Harran 68 1012 6.7
İnönü 58 1672 3.5
İstanbul 192 5445 3.5
İstanbul Teknik 32 2211 1.4
Kafkas 30 890 3.4
Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam 126 1305 9.7
Karabük 50 995 5
Karadeniz Teknik 44 2528 1.7
Kırıkkkale 74 1226 6
Kocaeli 57 2098 2.7
Marmara 102 3201 3.2
Mersin 33 1630 2
Muğla Sıtkı Koçman 38 1523 2.5
Mustafa Kemal 105 1060 9.9
Niüde Ömer Halisdemir 36 891 4
Ondokuz Mayıs 123 2347 5.2
Pamukkale 181 1995 9.1
Sakarya 97 2010 4.8
Selçuk 126 2732 4.6
Süleyman Demirel 271 2303 11.8
Trakya 29 1701 1.7
Uludağ 38 2474 1.5
Yıldız Teknik 114 1754 6.5
Yüzüncü Yıl 73 1705 4.3

Son olarak, sıralamadaki değişimin ihraç oranına bölünmesi ile oluşturulan kişisel başarı endeksi (atılanların akademik başarıya katkı endeksi) hesaplanmıştır. Buradaki amaç, ihraç edilen insanların üniversitelerin başarısına olan etkisini hesaplamaktır. Listenin en başında olan ve de en çok dikkat çeken Ege Üniversitesi’dir. Ege Üniversite’sinde toplam ihraç edilen akademisyen sayısı 45 ve oranı %1.4 olmasına rağmen, bu üniversitenin dünya çapındaki sıralaması 674’ten 913’e gerilemiştir ki, bu da akademik başarının %35 oranında düştüğünü göstermektedir. Ege Üniversitesi’nin söz konusu endeksi 25.33 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Benzer şekilde listenin üçüncü sırasında, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi’nde toplam ihraç edilen akademisyen sayısı 32 ve oran %1.4 olmasına rağmen bu üniversitenin dünya çapındaki sıralaması ise %19 civarında düşüş göstermiş, endeksi 13.76 olmuştur. Bu endeksin en yüksek olduğu üniversiteler Şekil 4’te verilmiştir.

Daha fazla bilgiye sayfanın üstünde yer alan PDF Link’ine tıklayarak ulaşabilirsiniz….

References

  1. Kural, B., Adal, H. (2018, July). Haber Listesi : Akademide İhraçlar 6 Bin 81’e Yükseldi.
    Retrieved from: http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/198990-akademide-ihraclar-6-bin-81-e-yukseldi
  2. Kural, B., (2016, August). Haber Listesi : Sayılarla Kapatılan Üniversiteler.
    Retrieved from: https://m.bianet.org/bianet/egitim/177442-sayilarla-kapatilan-universiteler
  3. University Ranking by Academic Performance.(n.d.)
    Retrieved from: http://tr.urapcenter.org/2019/index.php
  4. Country Note, (2014). Turkey–Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators.
    Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/education/Turkey-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf
  5. Yuksek Ogretim Bilgi Yonetim Sistemi, (n.d.).
    Retrieved from: https://istatistik.yok.gov.tr/
  6. http://www.webometrics.info/en

 


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