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Roundup: Finnish universities to protect Turkish researchers in Finland from purge

Xinhua, August 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Finnish universities have agreed on common measures to protect Turkish researchers working in Finland from being purged in the aftermath of the coup attempt in Turkey.

Following the failed coup attempt in mid-July, the Turkish education sector including the higher education institutions has been targeted for massive political purge.

According to media reports, over 15,000 staff members of the Turkish Ministry of Education have been suspended or dismissed, 21,000 teachers have lost their professional licenses, and 1,577 university deans have been forced to resign.

On July 20, the Turkish Council of Higher Education issued an order to suspend sending scholars abroad, and ask researchers and teachers working abroad to return to Turkey.

Halil Gurhanli, a Turkish researcher in the University of Helsinki, told Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat that it is easy to understand why the Turkish president wants the cleanups to target specifically universities.

On July 22, Universities Finland (UNIFI), an organization for Finnish universities, issued a statement to condemn the forced resignation of university deans. UNIFI also expressed its strong support for the higher education community in Turkey, and called for academic freedom in the country.

To protect Turkish researchers working in Finland from being purged, Finnish universities have agreed on common measures recently. One of the measures was to extend the contracts of Turkish scholars working in Finland.

"We have agreed that when their contracts run out, they will keep on until the situation (in Turkey) is evaluated," Kalervo Vaananen, rector of the University of Turku, was quoted by Kaleva as saying.

According to Jouko Niinimaki, chairman of UNIFI and rector of the University of Oulu, currently there are about 100 Turkish nationals working in Finnish universities.

"Taking a position on societal issues is one of the tasks of universities," he told Kaleva.

Halil Gurhanli told Xinhua on Thursday that he personally has no institutional connection with Turkey, so there is no place to call him back.

"I know only one researcher here in Finland who is called back, and that through a common friend, not directly," said Gurhanli.

He also said that the Finnish university the researcher is affiliated to sent a letter to urge the Turkish university in question not to call the person back, due to the importance of his work that was ongoing in Finland.

According to Liisa Laakso, rector of the University of Tampere, one of the three Turkish scholars in the university had received similar order. Endit