‘The Era of People Like You Is Over’: How Turkey Purged Its Intellectuals

Many Turkish academics grew up hoping that they would one day see their country become a democracy. They studied sociology or philosophy; they specialized in conflict resolution, peace building, minority rights, things like the creation of civil society. They received their Ph.D.s in political science or history, expressly to participate in liberal-minded universities that would bring forth generations even more democratic than themselves. They had faith in things like good governance practices, a fair judicial system, a free press, human rights and women’s rights. There was a goal, and an understanding that you were either part of democratization or you weren’t. In Turkey, those who engaged in the creation of a democracy as a painful, step-by-step process constituted a small, passionate group, but they shared this experience with people all across the world, from Poland to Taiwan, with those who also lived in democratizing countries, who felt that their countries were on the upswing, getting better, whatever that meant.