ISTANBUL —
Academics and students protested Tuesday outside Istanbul’s Marmara University, criticizing the latest wave of firings of scholars under emergency rule.

The university saw some of its top staff fired this month, under an emergency decree that removed 330 academics nationwide, along with 4,000 civil servants.

Among those dismissed is Marmara University’s internationally renowned professor Ibrahim Kaboglu, one of Turkey’s foremost constitutional law experts.

“There is no reason for my sacking,” said Kaboglu, adding that “as a law person I cannot give you any reason, because every judicial process, even the tiniest one, should have a reason and justification. And as a person who made calls for our students to be against violence, and to be for peace all my life, I cannot see any reason for my dismissal.”

Since the introduction of emergency rule following July’s failed coup, more than 5,000 academics have been purged, accused of supporting terrorist organizations and the failed coup.

In Turkey, Crackdown on Academics Heats Up