
Academics for Peace
The Academics for Peace (Turkish: Barış İçin Akademisyenler, BAK) refers to an association of academics who support a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Turkish conflict. They were established in November 2012 and their first public appearance was in support of hunger strikers in Turkish prisons.[1]
Abbreviation
BAK
November 2012
Support for peace negotiations in the Kurdish Turkish conflict
Legal prosecution[edit]
The Turkish Government ordered the detention and arrest of dozens of signatories of the second petition and accused them of propaganda for a terrorist organization. Against all of the over 1000 signatories investigations were opened.[8] Over 600 signatories were charged, mostly under Article No. 7.2 of the Anti-Terror Law or Article 301 of the penal code of the Turkish Republic.[12] In most trials which ended in a verdict, the defendants were found guilty of the offences and sentenced them to prison sentences between 15 months and 3 years.[13] The majority of the sentences were suspended but against 36 academics not. 29 verdicts were not suspended as the prison term in question was above 2 years and against the others it was not suspended as the defendants did want a suspension of the verdict.[13] In July 2019, the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the rights of expression of the signatories of the petition were violated[14] and in September 2019 a Turkish court for the first time acquitted one of the Academics for Peace.[15] In the following months several trials ended with an acquittal. 171 academics for peace were found innocent by 17 separate courts as of September 2019.[16] As of 30 October 2020, 204 academics were sentenced to a prison term higher than one year. While most verdicts were appealable, thirty-six academics are in prison, either because their verdict amounts to over two years or the academics did not accept the deferral of the verdict.[17]
Aachen 2016 – Peace Prize Johann-Philipp-Palm 2016 – Award for Freedom of Press and Expression Middle East Studies Association 2016 – Award for Academic Freedom Diyarbakır Medical Chamber 2016 – Prize for Peace and Democracy Human Rights Association 2016 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu Award for Freedom of Thought and Expression Hrant Dink 2016 – Inspirations Award Halkevleri 2016 – Solidarity Award Social Democracy Foundation 2016 – Prize for Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Solidarity İstanbul Medical Chamber 2017-Sevinç Özgüner Award for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy Scholars at Risk Network 2018 – Courage to Think Defender Award Suruç Families’ Initiative 2019 – Award for Justice and Resistance