Istar Gözaydin, academic and social activist. On the morning of December 20, Prof. Dr. Istar Gözaydın, a public intellectual and leading scholar on state-religion relations in Turkey, was detained on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization. There was no reason to believe the accusations or any legal evidence to ground them. She was just another voice, silenced in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in July 15. Not only for the established opposition, but for anyone who voices criticism of Erdogan´s leadership these days, it is just a matter of time before they suffer a similar fate.
Who is this lady?
Gözaydın is a prominent advocate of human rights both through her academic research and as a social activist. Those who know her public reputation often think of her as a liberal, but those who get to know her in person cannot miss her inflexible commitment to rights and freedoms and her determination to protect them. Having worked as a social scientist at various universities in Turkey (Istanbul Technical, Dogus and Gediz among them) she had connections with various groups in the country yet always avoided any form of engagement that could be described as membership. Despite maintaining a critical distance for academic purposes she never hesitated when it came to speaking up for the underprivileged, regardless of their ethnic, religious or other orientation.
Violence has always been her red line. “If we are not going to stand up against capital punishment and any other kind of violence“, she had said in an interview shortly before her arrest, “what is it that we do stand for in life then, as people and academics of this country?” Istar Gözaydin was fired from her post at the University during the crackdown that followed the failed coup in July and was banned from leaving the country on September 23. Like every other critical public figure, she was afraid, but she just couldn’t justify remaining silent in the face of systematic violations of law. Therefore, she continued to use the democratic platforms available to speak out.
