And those of us who are doing the exact same thing here in Europe and elsewhere in the West, are being demonized like this Turkish astrophysicist, for opposing Islamization of public society.
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“The point is that if a radical movement seizes control of the state, even by elections, and can hold it for a very long time, it can fundamentally transform policies and foreign policy. If they stay in power long enough they might even change the country’s political culture. If a minority of secularists remain but, for example, are also intimidated by threats and encouraged to conform by the offer of government benefits, it’s still a revolution.”
Islamofascism in Turkey
Before Islamic AKP government, wearing headscarves used to be banned at schools, universities and other official buildings in Turkey. And according to the decisions of courts , including the supreme court, Turkey is a secular country and nobody can wear a headscarf or other religious symbols in official buildings. But AKP governmet changed the law, and the judges of course, to remove headscarf ban.
In fact this was not a simple change in law, it was a Islamic revolution. Therefore, Islamist and jihadist AKP government and the judges and prosecutors assigned by AKP started to punish secular people for spreading islamisation process.
And this secular professor was one of them. If you shoot and hurt somebody or if you steal something, the maximum sentence is usually not more than 2 years in Turkey. BUT, if you obey the supreme court decisions and do not let head-scarfed girls enter a university, the punishment is 2 and half a year in prison.
According to the criminal code of Turkey, sentences more than 2 years can not be suspended. Because of this fact, the professor will be imprisoned soon…
Turkish Astrophysicist Faces Prison for Objecting to Headscarves
A senior astrophysics professor in Turkey appears to be the latest target of what academics and scientists in that country say is an ongoing campaign by its conservative government to intimidate secular intellectuals.
Rennan Pekünlü, who teaches at Ege University in Izmir, was tried by a local criminal court last year on charges of preventing female students from entering his class wearing headscarves. A ruling handed down on 13 September 2012, found Pekünlü guilty of violating the freedoms and rights of women at the university. The court sentenced him to 25 months of imprisonment. Pekünlü appealed to the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals, which is expected to issue a final ruling next month.
Pekünlü has argued that he was simply upholding the Turkish constitution, which prohibits the display of religious symbols or affiliation in government offices and institutions supported by government funding. A coalition of eight academic and scientific nonprofit organizations in Turkey has issued a joint declaration of support for Pekünlü that accuses the Turkish government of giving the astrophysicist an unjust trial.
