Police in Turkey have arrested at least 18 academics from Kocaeli University and Uludag University in Bursa, releasing 15 following questioning according to local media sources.
The academics were singled out for engaging in “terrorist propaganda” and insulting the state after signing a petition criticising Turkish military activities targeting the Kurdish dominated south-east regions of the country.
All 15 released were lecturers at Kocaeli University, but reports from Reuters suggest more may still be detained, as the declaration was signed by more than 1,000 academics in Turkey and abroad, and contains pleas for the Turkish government to halt “massacres” in the south-east.
