[ecrea] Call for a Symposium on Academic Freedom in Turkey

Academic Freedom and the Turkish Turmoil: Symposium on Academic Freedom 
in Turkey

University of Helsinki welcomes you to an academic discussion on the 
current situation of academia in Turkey.

In last January this year, 1128 academics signed an open letter which 
addressed the Turkish government calling for a lasting peace in Turkey 
and asking to end its violence in South Eastern Turkey which is mainly 
inhabited by Kurdish citizens. The next day, after the petition for 
peace was published, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused 
the signatories of treason and aiding the terrorist organization PKK. 
Since then, the signatories, as they call themselves the “Academics for 
Peace”, have been facing investigations, suspensions, dismissals and 
imprisonments.

On July 15th this year, there has been an attempt for a military coup 
d’état in Turkey. In a few days after the government has overthrown the 
attempt for coup, the Higher Education Council of Turkey (YÖK) has 
ordered the resignation of all Deans, altogether 1577 university deans, 
from public and foundation universities. 15 universities have been shut 
down since then and 2239 academic staff members are under investigation 
under the regulations of the state of emergency.

In order to understand the current, multi-layered and complicated 
political situation in Turkey and its effects on the academia, the 
University of Helsinki is organizing a symposium on August 25th with 
guest speakers. The event will be opened by Chancellor Thomas 
Wilhemsson, University of Helsinki, followed by  the keynote speech by 
Professor Umut Özkirimli from the University of Lund on  nationalism in 
today’s Turkey. Other speakers will include Senior Researcher Toni 
Alaranta from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, who will 
talk about the EU-Turkey relations, and Professor Mahmut Mutman from the 
University of Tampere, whose topic is populism in Turkey.

After the coffee break, there will be a panel discussion with 
researchers from the University of Helsinki. The panelists will include 
Professor Juhana Aunesluoma, Network for European Studies, Research 
Fellow Halil Gürhanli, Faculty of Social Sciences, Research Fellow 
Johanna Vuorelma, University of Warwick and Professor Hannu Juusola, 
Vice president of the Foundation of the Finnish Institute in the Middle 
East.

The symposium will be held on Thursday, 25 August, 2016, at 13-17 in the 
lecture hall Porthania IV (Yliopistonkatu 3).

Programme:

13:00             Opening words: Academic freedom and autonomy, 
Chancellor Thomas Wilhelmsson, University of Helsinki

13:20             KEYNOTE: Quo Vadis Turkey? Professor Umut Özkirimli, 
University of Lund

14:00             Turkey, EU and the narratives of emancipation: a 
reality check, Senior Research Fellow Toni Alaranta, the Finnish 
Institute of International Affairs

14:30             Putschists vs. Populists, Professor Mahmut Mutman, 
University of Tampere

15:30-16:30   PANEL:

Panel discussion Chair: Research director Juhana Aunesluoma, University 
of Helsinki

Research Fellow Halil Gürhanli, University of Helsinki

Professor Hannu Juusola, University of Helsinki

Research Fellow Johanna Vuorelma, University of Warwick

Organisers:   Faculty of Social Sciences , UH

Network for European Studies, UH

Scholars at Risk Network (SAR)

Date:             Thursday, 25 August,

Time:             13:00-17:00 (with a coffee break)

Venue:           Porthania IV (Yliopistonkatu 3)

Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/540846322765630/

For further information please get in touch with the coordinator Yonca 
Ermutlu ((yonca.ermutlu /at/ helsinki.fi) <mailto:(yonca.ermutlu /at/ helsinki.fi)>)

With kind regards,

Yonca Ermutlu, M.A.
Programme Coordinator
Media and Global Communication Master's Programme
http://www.helsinki.fi/globalmedia/
Faculty of Social Sciences/
Department of Social Research /
Discipline of Media and Communication Studies
Unioninkatu 37 (P.O. Box 54)
00014 University of Helsinki
e-mail: (yonca.ermutlu /at/ helsinki.fi)

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