Turkish academics who signed peace petition convicted for 'terror propaganda'

An Istanbul court handed down suspended sentences on "terror propaganda" charges to three academics on Friday for signing a 2016 petition calling for an end to violence against Kurds, Anadolu Agency reported.

The three, from Istanbul University, were the first of 148 academics now being prosecuted for signing the 2016 "We will not be a party to this crime!" letter.

Referring to themselves as "Academics for Peace", 1,128 Turkish and prominent foreign academics signed the petition – including American Noam Chomsky.

The petition followed the collapse of a two-year ceasefire with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

"I do not think the verdict is lawful," said one lawyer. "What they did does not constitute a crime under terror laws. There needs to be a call to violence for it to be a crime."

Since the 2016 failed coup, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has executed a widescale crackdown. More than 50,000 have been arrested, and about 150,000 sacked from their jobs.

Arrests in recent weeks appear to have picked up following Ankara's offensive in Afrin aimed at weeding out the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the northern Syrian region.

Fighting then intensified in the southeast and Turkish authorities also imposed months-long curfews in many areas as part of their operations against the PKK

Hundreds have been arrested on terror propaganda charges since Operation Olive Branch began on January 20.