Turkey ‘detains’ academics

ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Friday detained over a dozen people including academics from two Istanbul universities linked with an association led by imprisoned human rights activist Osman Kavala, a state-run news agency reported.

Police issued arrest warrants for 20 people as part of an investigation into Anadolu Kultur (Anatolian Culture) whose chairman Kavala has been jailed for more than a year but not formally charged, Anadolu news agency said.

Twelve had been rounded up so far in simultaneous raids at several addresses early Friday, it added. Professor Betul Tanbay of the prestigious Bogazici University and Professor Turgut Tarhanli, deputy dean of the private Bilgi University, were among the detainees.

The operation also targeted Anadolu Kultur executives including deputy chairman Yigit Ekmekci, as well as board member Ali Hakan Altinay, coordinator Asena Gunal and consultants Cigdem Mater and Meltem Aslan, the agency said.

It was not immediately clear what charges the detainees face. "Again a Friday, again detentions... Those who expect normalisation from this regime should continue to dream," he said referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Kavala, a philanthropist and co-founder of the Iletisim publishing house and well-known in intellectual circles in Turkey and abroad, is accused of "attempting to remove the constitutional order" and "attempting to overthrow the government".