330 academics, many of them from Ankara University, were expelled with a new state of emergency decree

At least 66 courses have been left without academics and 38 undergraduate theses and 89 postgraduate theses have been left without advisers at Ankara University’s Faculty of Language, History and Geography after the government’s latest expulsions. A total of 330 academics, many of them from Ankara University, were expelled with a new state of emergency decree published in the Official Gazette late on Feb. 7, drawing criticism from the opposition and the scholars themselves about the effect the moves will have on education. Ankara University issued a statement titled “Balance sheet of destruction created by decree laws” after the sacking of the academics, noting the number of courses left without professors. At the same time, an Ankara court has ruled that signing the “Academics for Peace Petition”, a document that resulted in the firing of a number of academics, is not grounds for expulsion, daily Cumhuriyet has reported. Over 1,100 signatories of the petition demanded an end to government operations in southeast Turkey last year, eliciting the fury of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and resulting in the sacking of hundreds of academics.