Statement of Support to Middle East Technical University’s Resistance Against the Government’s Unlawful Environmental Massacre on Their Campus

#DirenODTÜ

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, led by the AKP (Justice and Development Party), has, despite opposition, initiated a road construction project that goes through a forest area located in Ankara’s inner city, which is also property of Middle East Technical University (METU).

University students, the University presidency as well as the residents of the neighborhood located right next to the campus have opposed this project.  Student resistance initially halted various attempts by the Municipal demolition teams to cut down the trees.  Although the University administration’s appeal of Ankara Municipality’s proposed plan was still under legal consideration, the Municipality committed an environmental massacre by destroying 3,000 trees on the night of October 18.  The land was cleared overnight, without any prior notice or permission.  The night raid of the Ankara Municipality demolition teams backed by riot police was followed by an army of construction vehicles, working day and night to complete the unlawful highway as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, the government foiled all possible legal attempts to resolve the conflict.  The police have responded to the opposition from the University with excessive use of tear gas and water cannons.  In other words, METU’s fight for its forest has also become a fight for its democratic right to protest and to exercise its freedom of speech.

This act shows how the government turns a blind eye to the environmental concerns of the people as firmly expressed during the Gezi Uprising.  The attack on METU confirms the government’s commitment to sacrifice public green space for the ongoing construction projects.  We also state that this action poses a vivid example of the government’s encroachment on the autonomy of higher education in Turkey.

We, the undersigned academics, condemn the unlawful environmental massacre and the police brutality in the Middle East Technical University campus.  It is an unethical and unacceptable attack on METU as well as the academia in Turkey.  We declare our full support and solidarity with all resisting METU students, academic personnel and staff.

In solidarity,

Name Institution  Country
Ahu Karasulu Yıldız Technical University Turkey
Akın Tek Istanbul Sehir University Turkey
Alaz Kilicarslan Boston University United States
Albeniz Tuğçe Ezme University of Cincinnati United States
Aleksandar Şopov Harvard University United States
Alevgül Şorman Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
Ali B. Arslan Brown University  United States
Ali K. Saysel Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Ali Rıza Güngen Ondokuz Mayıs University Turkey
Alidost Numan University of Chicago  United States
Altan Ercan Harvard Medical School United States
Andrea Quaden University of Hamburg Germany
Andrew Littlejohn Harvard University United States
Anlam Filiz Emory University United States
Asiye Akgün Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Aslı Igsiz New York University United States
Aslihan Karatas  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Ataman Avdan Simon Fraser University Canada
Aydin Cem Keser University of Maryland United States
Aydin Ozipek Northwestern University United States
Ayfer Karakaya-Stump The College of William and Mary United States
Ayse Esra Sirin  Brown University  United States
Aysegul Kayagil New School for Social Research United States
Aysun Gezen Ankara University Turkey
Ayşe Gül Altınay Sabancı University Turkey
Barış Balcıoğlu Sabancı University Turkey
Bengi Akbulut Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Bilal E. Kerman The Salk Institute United States
Bilgen Ekim Ustunel Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Germany
Bronwyn Isaacs Harvard University United States
Burak Cesme Northeastern University United States
Burak Kose York University Canada
Burak Özçetin Akdeniz University Turkey
Burcu Baykurt Columbia University  United States
Caghan
Kizil
German Center for Neurodegenerative Dis. Germany
Can Eyup Cekic Bilkent University Turkey
Caner Özdemir Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Cem Oğuz Ankara University Turkey
Ceren Civelek Galatasaray University Turkey
Ceren Göğüş Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Ceren Gürkan Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya Spain
Ceyda Sungur Istanbul Technical University Turkey
Claudio Sopranzetti All Souls College, Oxford UK
Çağla Bozer Sabancı University Turkey
Çağla Orpen New School for Social Research  United States
Çağlar Dölek Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Dağlar Tanrıkulu Rutgers University United States
Deniz Arzuk Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Deniz Ay University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Deniz Ilhan SUNY Stony Brook University United States
Deniz Ozdemir Yasar University Turkey
Deniz Tarba Ceylan Sabancı University Turkey
Deniz Yükseker Koç University Turkey
Derya Ülker Mimar Sinan University Turkey
Devrim Kılıçer Ankara University Turkey
Didem Türkoğlu University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
Dilara Demir Rutgers University United States
Duygu Kasdogan York University Canada
E. Çetin Gürer Villanova University United States
Ebru Isgin West Chester University of Pennsylvania United States
Efe Murat Balıkçıoğlu Harvard University United States
Ekin Emek Berber SUNY Binghamton University United States
Ekin Kurtic Harvard University United States
Elçin Arabacı Georgetown University United States
Elif Keskiner Erasmus University Rotterdam Holland
Elif Kuş Saillard Ankara University Turkey
Emrah Altindis Harvard Medical School United States
Emre Akbas University of California United States
Emre Gürcanlı İtü inşaat fakültesi Turkey
Emre Özçelik METU – Northern Cyprus Campus Cyprus
Emre Şahin SUNY Binghamton University United States
Erdal Özmen Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Erdem Üngür Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Erdinc Erdem New School for Social Research United States
Eren Karaca  SUNY Binghamton University United States
Erol Köroğlu Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Esin Duzel University of California, San Diego United States
Esin Kasapoğlu Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Ethemcan Turhan Autonomous University of Barcelona Spain
Faranak Miraftab University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Feray Coskun  Freie Universitaet Germany
Figen F. Oktem University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Fikret Görün METU Turkey
Filiz Gozenman University of Nevada, Reno United States
Filiz Kahraman University of Washington United States
Funda Üstek University of Oxford UK
Giray Enkavi University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Gizem Gezer  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Gizem Inak Hertie Institute Tübingen  Germany
Gokhan Inan North Carolina State University United States
Gozde Burcu Ege University of Washington  United States
Gökhan Atınç University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
Gülay Hasdoğan Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Gülay Türkmen Yale University United States
Gülçin Con Purdue University United States
Güven Gürkan Öztan Istanbul University Turkey
Güven Güzeldere Harvard University United States
Güvenç Şahin Sabancı University Turkey
Hade Turkmen Cardiff University UK
Hakan Mıhcı Hacettepe University Turkey
Hakan Topal State University of New York United States
Hande Sungur VU University Netherlands 
Hanifi Barış University of Aberdeen Scotland, UK
Hasan Yılmaz University of Twente Netherlands 
Ibrahim Saylan Izmir University of Economics Turkey
Ilker Ozkan Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Ipek Akpınar Istanbul Technical University Turkey
Ipek Mercil Galatasaray University Turkey
Işıl Uluç  University of Vienna Austria
Işıl Ünal Ankara University Turkey
İlke Şanlıer Yüksel Doğuş University Turkey
İlke Tekin Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
İlkem Kayıcan Istanbul Bilgi University Turkey
İlker Urlu Ağrı İbrahim Ceçen University Turkey
İnci Özgür İlhan Ankara University Turkey
İpek Çamlı Ankara University Turkey
ipek Sakarya Istanbul University Turkey
İsmet Koç Hacettepe University Turkey
Jon Clindaniel  Harvard University United States
Julia McClure Harvard University United States
K. Mehmet Kentel University of Washington United States
Kelly Kato Rutgers University United States
Kemal Davaslioglu University of California, Irvine United States
Kevin Chamow Rutgers University United States
Leslie Gates  SUNY Binghamton University United States
Leyla Neyzi Sabancı University Turkey
M. Onur Arun  Univeristy of Manchester  UK
Mahinur S. Akkaya Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Maral Jefroudi  Intrenational Institute of Social History Netherlands 
Mehmet Baki Deniz SUNY Binghamton University United States
Mehmet Şahin Izmir University of Economics Turkey
Mehmet Türkay Marmara Üniversitesi Turkey
Melike Sümertaş Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Melisa Kohen Stanford University United States
Meltem Kayıran Ankara University Turkey
Meltem Yılmaz Şener Istanbul Bilgi University Turkey
Metin Duran Villanova University United States
Michael Herzfeld Harvard University United States
Mine Tafolar University of Texas at Austin United States
Mukadder Okuyan New School for Social Research United States
Murat Arcan Kündük Hacettepe University Turkey
Murat Germen Sabancı University Turkey
Neslihan Demirtaş Milz Izmir University of Economics Turkey
Neslihan Dostoglu Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Nilay Noyan Sabancı University Turkey
Nilgün Erdem  Ankara University Turkey
Nilufer Akalin SUNY Binghamton University United States
Nora Tataryan Concordia University Canada
Nur Bahar Sakızlıoğlu Utrecht University Netherlands 
Nurbanu Karataş Ankara University Turkey
Odilka Santiago SUNY Binghamton University United States
Olga S. Hünler Izmir University of Economics Turkey
Onur Erten Rutgers University United States
Onur Yildirim Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Oya Tagit Université Paris-Sud France
Ozan Ekin Kurt CEPN, Université Paris France
Ozan Karaman University of Glasgow Scotland, UK 
Ozgur Oksuz New York University United States
ozlem celik University of Sheffield UK
Ömer Allahverdi Dicle University Turkey
Ömer Turan Istanbul Bilgi University Turkey
Önder Güneş Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Önder Küçükural  Sabancı University Turkey
Özge Ejder Yeditepe University Turkey
Özge Öner Jönköping International Business School Sweden
Özge Özdüzen Edge Hill University UK
Özgür Narin Ordu University Turkey
Özlem Aslan University of Toronto Canada
Özlem Kaplan Yurtseven Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Öznur Sahin University of Western Sydney Australia
Pelin Akçagün Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Pelin Bayindir Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Pelin Çetken Istanbul Kultur University Turkey
Pervin Oya Taneri Cankiri Karatekin University Turkey
Pınar Kemerli  Cornell University United States
Pınar Kılıcer Leiden University Netherlands 
Pinar Deniz Aksoy Fordham university United States
Rabia Harmansah University of Pittsburgh United States
Rachel Martins IST, University of Lisbon Portugal
Ricardo Laremont SUNY Binghamton University United States
Rossen L. Djagalov Koç University Turkey
Sahizer Samuk IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca Italy
Salih Can Aciksoz School of Middle Eastern
& North African Studies United States
Samuel Andrew Hardy Univeristy College London UK
Sander van Lanen University College Cork Ireland
Sara Suna Yucel The Rockefeller University United States
Sarp Balcı Ankara University Turkey
Seda Altug Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Selin Dilli Utrecht University Netherlands 
Serap Türüt Aşık  Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Sergül Aydöre  University of Southern California United States
Serim Gursoy Denel California Polytechnic State University United States
Serkan Taşkent Sakarya University Turkey
Sezen Bayrak Gurel SUNY Binghamton University United States
Sibel Karadağ Koç University Turkey
Simge Yüz  Ludwig-Maximilians-University Germany
Sinan Eden IST, University of Lisbon Portugal
Sinem Ayhan University of Bologna Italy
Sumru Atuk The City University of New York United States
Suzan Odabasi Middle Tennessee State University United States
Şükrü Ekin Kocabaş Koç University Turkey
Tezcan Durna Ankara University Turkey
Tolga Kobas Columbia University  United States
Tolga Tezcan TUBITAK Turkey
Tuba Zehir Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Tülin Ödün Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Ümit Fırat Açıkgöz Rice University United States
Volkan Çıdam Istanbul Kemerburgaz University Turkey
Yasemin Dildar University of Massachusetts-Amherst UK
Yasemin Ergin Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Yelda Erçandırlı Middle East Technical University  Turkey
Yiğit Atılgan Sabancı University Turkey
Zeynep Atalay St. Mary’s College of California United States
Zeynep Gambetti Boğaziçi University  Turkey
Zeynep Helvacı University of Münster Germany
Zeynep Kalaylıoğlu Middle East Technical University  Turkey
zeynep kurtulus University of Arizona United States
Zeynep Oğuz Harvard University United States
Zeynep Tuna Ultav Izmir University of Economics Turkey
Zeynep Ü. Kaşlı University of Washington  United States
Zeynep Yanasmayan Max Planck Institute  Germany
Zeyno Ustun New School for Social Research  United States
Zülfü Aşık Middle East Technical University  Turkey

P.S: Please email your names and your affiliated academic institutions to solidaritywithmetu@gmail.com to show your support.


The statement in Turkish may be read at <solidaritywithmetu.blogspot.com>.




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