A documentary: Academic Freedom in Turkey and Brain Drain

English subtitles added.

As the IVME Movement, we are proud to share our documentary “Academic Freedom and Brain Drain in Turkey” with the public. In our documentary, which is a product of more than a year of collective work and intense volunteer effort, we documented the recent developments within the Turkish academia, and intense political pressure on academic institutions and scientific thought through individual stories of persecution and exile. Technical costs were covered by the project support fund provided by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The IVME Movement and its members did not receive any compensation for this project.

In this documentary, which was inspired by the resistance of Boğaziçi University students and faculty after the government circumvented the university’s democratic process and appointed a hand-picked president, we note that the history of Turkish academia is also a history of purges. Since 2016, the fundamental rights of academics have continued to be violated and unlawful terminations have become all the more common. It is now clear that no university is safe from the government’s overreach.

The study “Academic Freedom and Brain Drain in Turkey” also draws attention to Turkey’s highly educated youth, who have been moving abroad at an unprecented pace and seeking opportunities in other countries due to the oppressive climate, as well as feelings of dispensability and devaluation. While examining the various causes and consequences of the brain drain and why different demographic groups left the country, we also open up for debate the possibility of their return.

We hope to add more voices to the resistance that is still standing strong despite the oppression by the current regime and to find our way out of this difficult period for our country. We dedicate our work to all science workers who continue to produce knowledge and raise highly educated students in spite of all the hardships and pressures that they endure.

So many people have contributed to this documentary behind the scenes. First of all, we would like to thank Yasemin Ahi for her trust and patience. We want to express our gratitude to each participant who took part in the documentary and shared their views. We would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to: Anıl Kemal Aktaş, who has been there from the birth of the idea to the launch, and made this documentary come to life,

Gökçe Elif Yalçıner, who directed the documentary and worked extremely hard, and made sure that this project came to fruition, Deniz Ay, who believed in the beauty and importance of our mission, who motivated us to not give up on the project with her passion and exemplary work, and to the “other director”, Deniz Yıldız Can, Baran Yalçınkaya, Erhan Arca, Beliz Bayülgen, and Yusuf Can, who made significant contributions to the editing, research, translation, and fact-checking, Aybike Mergen, who came up with the idea for the documentary, and to our close friends from far away places, Yeşer Sarıyıldız, Özgür Nalbantoğlu, and Özgün Özdemir, who helped the project cross the finish line with their dedication and hard work, And finally; of course, all members of the IVME Movement who have been so supportive.