Whilst the demand made by Turkey’s Council of Higher Education that all university staff currently researching and teaching abroad should return to their own country has since been rescinded, the fact that a directive of this kind should have been implemented for a short time signals a loss of confidence in the protection of Turkish researchers’ academic freedom that will be hard to overcome. Reliable collaborations across national borders are a necessary precondition for successful academic work. Unrestricted movement for scientists is crucially linked to this; everyone concerned benefits from such exchange. In this difficult situation, the German universities and research institutions will continue to provide individual support for the Turkish researchers working with them.

In a very short time, already existing tendencies to restrict academic freedom in Turkey have become dramatically pronounced due to the escalation of the political situation. The positive overall development of science in Turkey and the international networking of the Turkish science system, amongst others with German scientific institutions, are acutely endangered.

The Alliance of Science Organisations calls on the Government of Turkey to conduct its ongoing investigations into the participation of universities and research institutions in the attempted coup strictly within the framework of legitimate constitutional procedures.