The Academy of Science and Enlightenment released a statement on the murder of 4 academics at a university in Eskişehir province on April 5, declaring the academy is in a state of fall

The rising number of murders within the academic world of Turkey is not a coincidence, the Academy of Science and Enlightenment (BAA) said in a written statement on Tuesday.

Noting that the universities are never isolated from the social system, BAA, founded with the initiative of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), said the character of the academy in Turkey is defined by the needs of capital accumulation and the nature of the regime.

UNIVERSITIES TURNED INTO HORROR HOUSES

The statement said that the post-July 15 coup attempt period witnessed the purge of progressive and all other anti-government academics from the universities by the authoritarian regime in Turkey. "Those who expressed their opinions were banished from the universities, and statutory decrees hung over the academy as guillotines, turning the universities into horror houses", said the statement.

Reminding the murders in Selçuk and Ankara Universities in previous years, the statement said there is nothing surprising about the rising number of murders within the academic world of Turkey given that mediocrity has become commonplace, wisdom and courage are lost in the academy.

FOR ENLIGHTENED, FREE AND SCIENTIFICALLY PRODUCTIVE UNIVERSITIES

The Academy of Science and Enlightenment expressed its condolences to the families, colleagues and students of the murdered academics, noting sadly that it was neither the first and nor will be the last of the murders in the academy.

"The Academy of Science and Enlightenment knows that a free and scientifically productive academy is possible only in a world based on freedom and equality, and struggles for that end. Don't be afraid, don't get into silence, and most importantly, don't submit to the darkness. There is sure a way out of these dark days."