'Aware of States' Silencing of Dissenting Voices': Academics Call on Turkey to Cut Ties With Israel
The Wire Staff
Real journalism holds power accountable
Since 2015, The Wire has done just that.
But we can continue only with your support.
New Delhi: Close to 300 academics from Turkey have released a statement in support of Palestinian people, under attack from Israel. The statement highlights how Hamas's attacks on October 7 is now a pretext for Israel's massacre of Palestinian people.
Calling themselves the 'Academics for Peace from Turkey', the group has called on Turkey to severe all military, commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel.
The signatories noted that Israel's actions amount to "ethnic cleansing and even genocide."
The following is the statement in full and its signatories:
The state of Israel, which has been illegally occupying the Palestinian territories for 56 years and has been besieging Gaza since 2006 in violation of international law, as also stated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, is today committing another crime against the Palestinian people in front of the eyes of the whole world. On October 7, 2023, the “Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions” consisting of a total of 12 Palestinian organisations with diverse political orientations – often reported in the media only as Hamas – crossed the Gaza border and killed more than 1400 people, most of them civilians, with air and ground attacks. The Israeli state thereupon, using this massacre almost as an excuse or even “opportunity”, began to apply the heaviest state terror against the Palestinian people to date. In the midst of these massacres, we witnessed the constant bombing of hospitals, the complete destruction of two hospitals, the bombing of ambulance convoys and the open declaration of the Israeli state that it will not recognise any law of war. As of November 6, the death toll in Gaza is estimated to have exceeded 10,000, including thousands of children and women.
The Israeli government today uses Hamas' recent attacks as a pretext for its massacres, but we know that the Palestinian people have been subjected to intense repression and violence by the Israeli security forces even in the absence of Hamas. The Israeli government, which has been labelled an apartheid regime by many Jewish diaspora initiatives as well as by political and civil initiatives of Israeli citizens, implies in front of the eyes of the world that it aims to wipe out the people of Gaza, estimated at 2.2 million, from the face of the earth. The land operation launched by Israel amounts to ethnic cleansing and even genocide.
We are already witnessing the voices of many Israeli academics, journalists and thinkers who are speaking out, and who are now being targeted and witch-hunted by their own state, for questioning the official narrative of the state. We heard the voices of these brave people who are speaking out against their own state's unjust war and massacres during the Gaza bombardment in 2014. It gives hope to see that the number of people joining this voice has increased exponentially after Israel's massacres in Gaza today. As Academics for Peace from Turkey, we are well aware of the silencing and intimidation methods that states can use against dissenting voices, especially in extraordinary situations such as war, and therefore we stand in strong solidarity with both our Palestinian colleagues and our colleagues in Israel who speak out against the crimes of their state.
We, the undersigned Academics for Peace from Turkey, call on the international public, politicians and media to take a stand against Israel's massacres. We also call on Turkey to cut all military, commercial and diplomatic relations with Israel until the occupation ends and peace is established. As in all conflicts in the world, a lasting peace can only be secured if the oppressed have an equal say in peace negotiations.
- A. Celil Kaya
- Adalet B. Alada
- Adnan Şahin
- Ahmet Bülent Özer
- Ahmet Çinici
- Ahmet Ersoy
- Ahu Ersözlü
- Akın Atauz
- Ali Taşıran
- Ali Yalçın Göymen
- Aliye Kovanlıkaya
- Alper Açık
- Alper Kaliber
- Anıl Duman
- Aslı Davas
- Aslı Kayhan
- Aslı Odman
- Aslı Takanay
- Aslı Telli
- Atakan Büke
- Aydın Gelmez
- Aydın Ördek
- Aydoğan Kars
- Ayfer Bartu Candan
- Aynur Özuğurlu
- Ayşe Arslan
- Ayşe Durakbaşa
- Ayşe Erzan
- Ayşe Gül Yılgör
- Ayşe Gözen
- Ayşe Serdar
- Ayten Alkan
- Bahadır Aydın
- Banu Can
- Barış Taşyakan
- Barış Ünlü
- Barış Yapışkan
- Başak Derinel
- Bediz Yılmaz
- Benan Eres
- Berna Kılınç
- Beyza Üstün
- Biray Kolluoğlu
- Bülent Aslan
- Bülent Küçük
- Can Açıksöz
- Can Candan
- Can Şeker
- Caner Doğan
- Caner Ercan
- Cankat Tanrıverdi
- Cem Oyvat
- Cem Özatalay
- Cemil Yıldızcan
- Cenk Yiğiter
- Ceren Özselçuk
- Ceren Şengül
- Cesim Çelik
- Cihan Yapıştıran
- Cumhur İzgi
- Cüneyt Başbuğu
- Çare Olgun Çalışkan
- Çağlar Dölek
- Çiğdem Kafesçioğlu
- D. Emrah Zıraman
- Damla Karaman
- Demet Bolat
- Derya Keskin
- Didem Danış
- Dilek Hattatoğlu
- E. Ahmet Tonak
- Ebru Işıklı
- Ece Algan
- Eda Aslı Şeran
- Efe Arık
- Ekin Barış Şah
- Ekin Dedeoğlu
- Elif Sandal Önal
- Emel Yuvayapan
- Emrah Günok
- Emre Çetin Gürer
- Ercan Şen
- Erdal Gilgil
- Erdem Üngür
- Eren Paydaş
- Ergün Özgür
- Erhan Bayram
- Erhan Yalçındağ
- Erol Köroğlu
- Esmeray Yoğun
- Esra Akbalık
- Esra Dabağcı
- Esra Ergüzeloğlu
- Esra Ertan
- Esra Mungan
- Evun Sevgi Okumuş
- Eylem Tek
- F. Ceren Akçabay
- Faize Deniz Mardin
- Fatma Gök
- Fatma Ünsal
- Ferda Fahrioğlu-Akın
- Feryal Saygılıgil
- Fırat Çapan
- Fikret Uyar
- Filiz Arıöz
- Fuat Özdinç
- Funda Karapehlivan
- Gençay Gürsoy
- Görkem Akgöz
- Gözde Aytemur
- Gülcan Ergün
- Gülhan Türkay
- Güler Fişek
- Gülsün Güvenli
- Gürel Tüzün
- Hacer Ansal
- Hacı Çevik
- Hakan Altun
- Hakan Koçak
- Halis Ulaş
- Hanifi Barış
- Hazel Başköy
- Heval Bozbay
- Hilal Alkan
- Hilmi Tezgör
- Hülya Dinçer
- Hülya Doğan
- Işıl Ünal
- İ. Kuban Altınel
- İbrahim Yaman
- İlkay Özküralpli
- İlker Cörüt
- İpek Türeli
- İrfan Eroğlu
- Kaan Ağartan
- Kazım Tolga Gürel
- Kerem Eksen
- Koray Sakarya
- Kumru Toktamış
- Kuvvet Lordoğlu
- Latife Akyüz
- Leyla Şimşek-Rathke
- Lülüfer Körükmez
- Lütfiye Bozdağ
- M. Barış Gümüşbaş
- Mehmet Onur Yılmaz
- Mehmet Türkay
- Melek Zorlu
- Melih Kırlıdoğ
- Meral Camcı
- Meral Demirel
- Meryem Koray
- Mert Büyükkarabacak
- Mesut Coşkun
- Mevlüt Yaprak
- Mihrican Zorlu Günok
- Murat Büyükyılmaz
- Murat Gülsoy
- Murat Koyuncu
- Murat Özbank
- Murat Özyükseli
- Mustafa Altıntop
- Mustafa Çapar
- Mustafa Kemal Coşkun
- Mustafa Kerem Yüksel
- Mustafa Oğuz Sinemillioğlu
- Mustafa Şener
- Muzaffer Kaya
- Nagehan Tokdoğan
- Nazan Üstündağ
- Nazım Dikbaş
- Nazlı Bülay Doğan
- Nergis Perçinel
- Nesrin Sungur Çakmak
- Neşe Özgen
- Neşe Şen
- Nil Mutluer
- Nilay Etiler
- Nilgün Toker
- Nur Bekata Mardin
- Nur Betül Çelik
- Nur Yasemin Ural
- Nurçin İleri
- Nuri Ersoy
- Nüket Esen
- Nükhet Sirman
- Olcay Akyıldız
- Olcay Kunal
- Olga Selin Hünler
- Onur Hamzaoğlu
- Onur Özgür
- Orhan Kaya
- Osman İşçi
- Öget Öktem Tanör
- Ömer Faruk Yekdeş
- Özdemir Aktan
- Özge Ertem
- Özgür Çiçek
- Özgür Müftüoğlu
- Özgür Orhangazi
- Özlem Özkan
- Öznur Yaşar Diner
- Pınar Şenoğuz
- Ramazan Kurt
- Rana Gürbüz
- Rıfat Okçabol
- Saadet Sorgunlu
- Seçil Doğuç
- Seçkin Özsoy
- Seda Altuğ
- Sedat Yağcıoğlu
- Selda Altınok
- Selim Eskiizmirliler
- Selime Güzelsarı
- Sema Bayraktar
- Serdar Başçetin
- Serdar Tekin
- Sevgi Adak
- Sevil Çakır
- Seyhan Çamlıgüney
- Sezai Ozan Zeybek
- Sezen Çilengir
- Sibel Irzık
- Sibel Özbudun
- Sibel Perçinel
- Simten Coşar
- Suzan Yazıcı
- Sümercan Bozkurt
- Şafak Aykaç
- Şahan Yatarkalkmaz
- Şahika Yüksel
- Şebnem Korur Fincancı
- Şebnem Oğuz
- Şükrü Boylu
- Tahsin Yeşildere
- Tamer Demiralp
- Tezcan Durna
- Tijen Tunalı
- Tuba Akıncılar
- Tuna Altınel
- Turan Keskin
- Umut Ezgi Bozdağ
- Umut Soytaş
- Ülkü Güney
- Ümit Biçer
- Veli Deniz
- Volkan Çidam
- Yasemin Özgün
- Yaşar Akdağ
- Yeşim Ediş Şahin
- Yücel Demirer
- Yücel Candemir
- Z. Gizem Sayın
- Z. Tül Akbal Süalp
- Zafer Yenal
- Zelal Beyaz Karcal
- Zerrin Kurtoğlu Şahin
- Zeynep Gambetti
- Zeynep Kadirbeyoğlu
- Zeynep Kıvılcım
- Zeynep Uysal
- Zeynep Yürekli
- Zişan Kürüm
This article went live on November twelfth, two thousand twenty three, at fifty-four minutes past twelve at noon.
The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
