Press Release of the State Conference of the Rectors and Presidents of the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin (LKRP)
Statement by the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin on the Events in Turkey
№ 263/2016 from Jul 22, 2016
The higher education institutions in Berlin are watching developments at higher education institutions in Turkey with growing concern. Over the last few days, deans have been ordered to resign and employees have been suspended from service. The Turkish higher education council has also barred researchers from leaving the country. Turkish researchers who are already working abroad have been ordered to return to their home country.
Academia, science, and the arts thrive on internationality, encounters with others, and dialogue. Freedom in research and teaching activities is an essential precondition for successful international cooperative initiatives. Dismissals and travel restrictions imposed on scholars and scientists stand in direct opposition to this principle of academic freedom.
The State Conference of Rectors and Presidents of the Higher Education Institutions in Berlin therefore emphatically endorses the protests made by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and the European University Association.
Link to the Statement by the LKRP
Link to the Statement by the EUA
The Higher Education Institutions in Berlin (LKRP)