What's new

Turkish Industry, Science and Technology

cropped-ccs-header-logo.png


The Science Academy of Turkey Issues Statement on Freedom of Speech and Science

February 22, 2018


The Bilim Akademisi, the Turkish Science Academy, issued a statement noting its concerns on the growing restraints on freedom of speech and freedom of science presently in Turkey.

Their statement follows:

The Science Academy Statement on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Science, February 2018

The Science Academy sees it necessary to publicly express once again its concerns on the growing restraints on freedom of science and on its sine qua non condition, the freedom of speech. We sadly observe that the problems we have previously pointed out1 regarding the freedom of speech are still present. The absence of any significant improvements, on the contrary, an increase in negative practices have turned the problem into a systematic issue.

As the Science Academy, we deem it necessary to underline once again the present legal situation which holds also under the state of emergency regime.

  • Article 26 of the Turkish Constitution states that “Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his/her thoughts and opinions by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively.”2 According to Art. 15, cl. 2, this is a freedom that cannot be limited through any measure that violates the principle of proportionality and obligations enjoined by international law.
  • As expressed by the Constitutional Court, “[…] freedom of speech, which is one of the pillars of the democratic society, is certainly valid not only for the situations considered favorable or innocuous or unworthy of attention, but also those which may be deemed negative, incorrect or disturbing by the state or some section of the society. Because such are the necessities of diversity, tolerance and open–mindedness present in a ‘democratic society’.3
  • Again, according to the Constitutional Court,As stated in the settled case-laws of the European Court of Human Rights, governments are obliged to tolerate even the harshest criticism towards themselves, because governments are the exercisers of the public force. A healthy democracy necessitates that a government is checked not only by the parliament and the judicial bodies but also by the other actors in the political arena, such as the non-governmental organizations, media or the political parties.4
The full membership application of the Republic of Turkey to the European Union is still in process. The Progress Report of 2016 states as such: “In the past year, serious backsliding continued and gave rise to growing concern. Last year’s recommendations were not followed and can therefore be restated. Legislation and practice do not comply with ECtHR case-law. Freedom of expression has come under serious strain. Ongoing and new criminal cases against journalists, writers or social media users, withdrawal of accreditations as well as closure of or appointment of trustees to numerous media outlets are of serious concern. Selective and arbitrary application of the law, especially provisions on national security and the fight against terrorism, is having a negative impact on freedom of expression. The Internet Law and the general legal framework continue to enable the executive to block content without a court order on an unduly wide range of grounds.”5 It can be foreseen that the evaluation in the yet unpublished EU Progress Report 2017 shall be much worse. The expression of any opinion critical of the government’s present policies is now met with the charge of supporting terrorism, and this allegation itself is considered enough for the related persons to be detained or dismissed from their offices. It poses another serious problem that claims about faculty members being dismissed unjustly or because of their political view have not been subject to an efficient process of examination and evaluation so far.

Can we talk about any freedom of science where the freedom of speech is under such tremendous pressure? As it has been emphasized many times on previous announcements of the Science Academy, the freedom of speech is the foundation of the freedom of science; and it is the basic constituent of a libertarian and pluralistic society. This foundation is indispensable for all branches of science to freely form and teach scholarly views and knowledge, and to disseminate these through academic publications and by publicly expressing opinions. It is our responsibility to remember and remind that practices incompatible with a democratic society, limiting rights in an excessive or fundamental way, are violating both the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and international conventions that we are a party to, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

Respectfully announced to the public,

The Science Academy Executive Board
13 February 2018


1 The Science Academy’s announcements on freedom of speech and freedom of science dated January 2016 and April 2016, and 2017 Report on Academic Freedoms.

2 https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/docs/constitution_en.pdf.

3 Individual Application to the Constitutional Court, No. 2014/12151, Date of decision 4/6/2015, on the Official Gazette 1/7/2015, No. 29403, para. 52.

4 Individual Application to the Constitutional Court, No. 2014/12151, Date of decision 4/6/2015, publishes in the Official Gazette 1/7/2015, No. 29403, para. 66.

5 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/ 20161109_report_turkey.pdf, p. 25.


Freedom of speech to support pkk?
 
cropped-ccs-header-logo.png


The Science Academy of Turkey Issues Statement on Freedom of Speech and Science

February 22, 2018


The Bilim Akademisi, the Turkish Science Academy, issued a statement noting its concerns on the growing restraints on freedom of speech and freedom of science presently in Turkey.

Their statement follows:

The Science Academy Statement on Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Science, February 2018

The Science Academy sees it necessary to publicly express once again its concerns on the growing restraints on freedom of science and on its sine qua non condition, the freedom of speech. We sadly observe that the problems we have previously pointed out1 regarding the freedom of speech are still present. The absence of any significant improvements, on the contrary, an increase in negative practices have turned the problem into a systematic issue.

As the Science Academy, we deem it necessary to underline once again the present legal situation which holds also under the state of emergency regime.

  • Article 26 of the Turkish Constitution states that “Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his/her thoughts and opinions by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media, individually or collectively.”2 According to Art. 15, cl. 2, this is a freedom that cannot be limited through any measure that violates the principle of proportionality and obligations enjoined by international law.
  • As expressed by the Constitutional Court, “[…] freedom of speech, which is one of the pillars of the democratic society, is certainly valid not only for the situations considered favorable or innocuous or unworthy of attention, but also those which may be deemed negative, incorrect or disturbing by the state or some section of the society. Because such are the necessities of diversity, tolerance and open–mindedness present in a ‘democratic society’.3
  • Again, according to the Constitutional Court,As stated in the settled case-laws of the European Court of Human Rights, governments are obliged to tolerate even the harshest criticism towards themselves, because governments are the exercisers of the public force. A healthy democracy necessitates that a government is checked not only by the parliament and the judicial bodies but also by the other actors in the political arena, such as the non-governmental organizations, media or the political parties.4
The full membership application of the Republic of Turkey to the European Union is still in process. The Progress Report of 2016 states as such: “In the past year, serious backsliding continued and gave rise to growing concern. Last year’s recommendations were not followed and can therefore be restated. Legislation and practice do not comply with ECtHR case-law. Freedom of expression has come under serious strain. Ongoing and new criminal cases against journalists, writers or social media users, withdrawal of accreditations as well as closure of or appointment of trustees to numerous media outlets are of serious concern. Selective and arbitrary application of the law, especially provisions on national security and the fight against terrorism, is having a negative impact on freedom of expression. The Internet Law and the general legal framework continue to enable the executive to block content without a court order on an unduly wide range of grounds.”5 It can be foreseen that the evaluation in the yet unpublished EU Progress Report 2017 shall be much worse. The expression of any opinion critical of the government’s present policies is now met with the charge of supporting terrorism, and this allegation itself is considered enough for the related persons to be detained or dismissed from their offices. It poses another serious problem that claims about faculty members being dismissed unjustly or because of their political view have not been subject to an efficient process of examination and evaluation so far.

Can we talk about any freedom of science where the freedom of speech is under such tremendous pressure? As it has been emphasized many times on previous announcements of the Science Academy, the freedom of speech is the foundation of the freedom of science; and it is the basic constituent of a libertarian and pluralistic society. This foundation is indispensable for all branches of science to freely form and teach scholarly views and knowledge, and to disseminate these through academic publications and by publicly expressing opinions. It is our responsibility to remember and remind that practices incompatible with a democratic society, limiting rights in an excessive or fundamental way, are violating both the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and international conventions that we are a party to, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

Respectfully announced to the public,

The Science Academy Executive Board
13 February 2018


1 The Science Academy’s announcements on freedom of speech and freedom of science dated January 2016 and April 2016, and 2017 Report on Academic Freedoms.

2 https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/docs/constitution_en.pdf.

3 Individual Application to the Constitutional Court, No. 2014/12151, Date of decision 4/6/2015, on the Official Gazette 1/7/2015, No. 29403, para. 52.

4 Individual Application to the Constitutional Court, No. 2014/12151, Date of decision 4/6/2015, publishes in the Official Gazette 1/7/2015, No. 29403, para. 66.

5 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2016/ 20161109_report_turkey.pdf, p. 25.

I wonder if Isreali scientists supporting Hezbollah, and Israeli government doing nothing about it.

I know you like to post propaganda articles here and there but try to be fair.

Let's all together remember what these "academics" did.

Statement of these academics.

"
"The Turkish state has effectively condemned its citizens in Sur, Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and many other towns and neighborhoods in the Kurdish provinces to hunger through its use of curfews that have been ongoing for weeks. It has attacked these settlements with heavy weapons and equipment that would only be mobilized in wartime. As a result, the right to life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have been violated.

This deliberate and planned massacre is in serious violation of Turkey’s own laws and international treaties to which Turkey is a party. These actions are in serious violation of international law.

We demand the state to abandon its deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish and other peoples in the region. We also demand the state to lift the curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material and psychological damage. For this purpose we demand that independent national and international observers to be given access to the region and that they be allowed to monitor and report on the incidents.

We demand the government to prepare the conditions for negotiations and create a road map that would lead to a lasting peace which includes the demands of the Kurdish political movement. We demand inclusion of independent observers from broad sections of society in these negotiations. We also declare our willingness to volunteer as observers. We oppose suppression of any kind of the opposition.

We, as academics and researchers working on and/or in Turkey, declare that we will not be a party to this massacre by remaining silent and demand an immediate end to the violence perpetrated by the state. We will continue advocacy with political parties, the parliament, and international public opinion until our demands are met"

Tell me with a straight face that this statement is not a PKK propaganda.
 
Tell me with a straight face that this statement is not a PKK propaganda.
I don't agree with your opinions but I think you often make a better - and in this example, more succinct - case for the Turkish government's position than the Turkish government does itself. HOWEVER, you're not quoting from the CCS here but from a different organization.

I wonder if Isreali scientists supporting Hezbollah, and Israeli government doing nothing about it.
Irrelevant, beneath your usual standard, and detracts from the rest of your post.
 
I don't agree with your opinions but I think you often make a better - and in this example, more succinct - case for the Turkish government's position than the Turkish government does itself.

Irrelevant, beneath your usual standard, and detracts from the rest of your post.
How to avoid an answer 101 :)
 
4.0 göre tasarlanmış çikolata fabrikası şölen:)

I'm craving for some Solen chocolate now :woot:

In all seriousness, the automation system Solen uses (industry 4.0) is fairly complicated and sophisticated from inception to storage of the chocolates. I've visited Nestle factory nearly a decade ago and I can say it still uses systems from 50's and 60's.

I wonder how Industry 5.0 would be like when there are talks of how Turkey would switching to these systems in the near future... similar to 4.0 i suppose but less human input.
 
Tesla to launch in Turkey in 2018, CEO Elon Musk says
NEW YORK
5af53bfc0f25441550d7d190.jpg



Electric carmaker Tesla plans to launch in Turkey, its chief executive said late on May 10.

“Btw, planning to launch Tesla in Turkeylater this year,” Elon Musk said in a post on his Twitter account.

“Love your country & will be there in person for the launch,” he added.

The company produced more than 300,000 electric vehicles as of February.

The Model S, its most popular car, has sold more than 200,000 units so far and was the world’s best-selling electric vehicle in 2015 and 2016.

The firm released two more models—the Model X SUV and Model 3 sedan—in September 2015 and July 2017, respectively.

Last year, the company also unveiled its electric truck, the Tesla Semi.

Turkey had a total of nearly 12.2 million registered cars by the end of March, according to the most recent data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

There were 729,500 new passenger car registrations in Turkey last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, compared with 15.1 million in the EU.

While Turkey is highly dependent on oil imports, electric cars could provide some relief for its gasoline consumption.

There are a few hundred Tesla owners in Turkey, who order the cars from abroad.

However, the low number of charging stations and limited services are some of the biggest hurdles for the electric vehicle market in the country, according to experts

I knew those meetings with Erdoğan werent for nothing
 
This guy is a complete hoax. (Now entering into candy business :D )
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom