Academic who supported boycott dismissed from duty

In a statement released by the Eğitim-Sen Ankara No. 5 Universities Branch, it was stated that an instructor at the Hacettepe University Faculty of Education had their employment terminated for supporting a student boycott decision. 

"Following a complaint filed to CİMER by a student, the Faculty of Education Administrative Board decided to terminate the contract of an instructor who was teaching on an assignment basis, after the instructor acted in respect of the students' decision and will to boycott, which they exercised based on their constitutional rights," the statement noted, adding the following:

"This decision is a clear policy of intimidation targeting not only the instructor in question but all university components. Academic freedom is an indispensable principle of universities. The freedom of thought and expression of instructors is the foundation of scientific autonomy and a democratic university. Punishing an academic for exercising this freedom means distancing the university from its scientific identity. The dismissal decision was clearly made with political motives and has laid bare the precarious employment in academia. This decision, which lacks legal grounds, is aimed at suppressing the rights and freedom of expression of precariously employed academics. This cancellation of an assignment, carried out in haste before the semester has even ended, has once again shown how the precarization of labor in universities functions as a tool of control. The administration's approach, which rewards informing and punishes solidarity, is unacceptable. Respecting the will of students who exercise their constitutional and democratic rights is not a crime, but an academic responsibility. The mindset that attempts to govern the university through mechanisms of denunciation and fear is the greatest enemy of free thought and scientific production. As the Eğitim-Sen Ankara No. 5 Universities Branch, we do not accept this unjust and arbitrary decision; we announce to the public that we will continue to defend academic freedoms, freedom of expression, and the democratic functioning of universities."

News Source: 12punto