Panelists think Columbia canceled event on Turkey after pressure from Turkish gov’t
Turkey accuses the Gülen movement of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.
New York City’s Columbia University canceled a panel discussion on Turkey two days before the event citing “academic standards,” although two panelists said on Twitter that they believe it happened due to pressure from the Turkish government.
“Disappointed to learn that @Columbia ‘s Provost effectively canceled this panel two days before the event, citing ‘academic standards.’ One can only assume that the university came under pressure from the govt of #Turkey and its supporters. Terrible precedent,” tweeted Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow at Council on Foreign Relations.
“I agree [with Steven A. Cook] that this was likely due to pressure from Turkish government-likely from NYC consulate/embassy,” also tweeted Sinan Ciddi, the executive director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University.
Co-hosted with PEN America, the panel, hosted by Columbia’s Global Freedom of Expression initiative, was also to include Alp Y. Aslandoğan, president of Alliance for Shared Values, an umbrella organization for Gülen-affiliated associations in the US.
Turkey accuses the Gülen movement of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.
Ankara wants its allies to designate the movement as a terrorist organization, although so far Western countries have not been convinced by Turkey’s evidence on the coup.
Source: Turkish Minute
