Universities around the globe continue showing support for academics targeted by attacks from the AKP and Erdoğan after they called for peace and an end to the war in Kurdistan.

The joint letter of 1406 academics from 62 countries calls on the AKP government to “stop the witch hunt”.

More than 2 thousand academics who issued a declaration titled “We will not be a party to this crime” to call an end to the war in Kurdistan were targeted by the AKP government and Erdoğan’s personal instructions. The academics underwent investigations and 4 academics were arrested.

1406 academics from 62 countries, including Noam Chomsky, signed a joint letter in support to the academics. The letter calls on the AKP to “stop the witch hunt”.

Academics, mentioning that they had previously signed a letter supporting academic freedom and demanding an end to investigations against the Academics for Peace group, state: “But the Turkish government did not heed the calls for freedom for the academics and intensified the witch hunt against them.” The letter also notes that the British national professor who was in the court house to support the arrested academics was deported and goes on to state that they “demand selected representatives from international communities call on the Turkish government to end this witch hunt on the Academics for Peace, release the arrested academics, respect academic freedoms, return the suspended and terminated academics to their positions.”

Among the signatories are Gilbert Achcar, Michael Ash, Etienne Balibar, Korkut Boratav, Martin van Bruinessen, Victoria Chick, Noam Chomsky, James Crotty, Gerald Epstein, Ben Fine, Gerald Friedman, Jayati Ghosh, David Graeber, Geoff Harcourt, Janroj Keles, Marc Lavoie, Katherine Newman, Bertell Ollman, Özlem Onaran, Esra Özyürek, Robert Pollin, Malcolm Sawyer, Lynne Segal, Engelbert Stockhammer, Mehmet Uğur and John Weeks.