Purge, Exile, and Resistance: Rethinking the Conflict of the Faculties through the Case of Academics for Peace in Turkey
By Cem Özatalay, Associate Professor in the Sociology Department, Galatasaray University
Published in the European Journal of Turksish Studies, December 2020
Introduction
“Like dissident journalists, writers, and artists, the persecution of dissident academics by governments has been a common issue since the beginning of modern times. Raison d’état has frequently judged it necessary to conduct purges in universities, particularly in times of crisis and transition. In the case of Turkey, as a late industrialized country with feeble and dependent democratic institutions, this “national interest” argument seems to come into play more frequently, feeding the idea that “the history of universities in Turkey is nothing but a history of purges” (Günal 2013).”