Our friend Prof. Dr. Iştar Gözaydın, who is founding member of our association, human rights advocate, academic, writer and administrative lawyer, was arrested by the court on 27 December 2016 on charges of links with the terrorist organization.

Prof. Dr. Iştar Gözaydın, who is currently under arrest in Yenişakran Prison, has carried out all her professional and humanitarian activities within the framework of universal legal principles, the constitution and existing laws. Our friend Iştar Gözaydın, who has carried out academic studies at global level and whose reputation in this field is acclaimed by all national and international circles, has defended human rights for all against violations and regardless of who the concerned person may be.

We have witnessed that based on her critical and intellectual character İştar Gözaydın has denied all kinds of restrictive, repressive and anti-democratic institutional connections. 

As Citizenship Association, we are fully confident that our friend and member İştar Gözaydın has no involvement whatsoever in the offence attributed to her, that the charges pressed against her lack any grounds and we consider these charges unacceptable. 

Therefore we hereby demand that human rights defender Prof. Dr. İştar Gözaydın be immediately and unconditionally released and charges pressed against her be dropped.

Who is İştar Gözaydın?

Prof. İştar Gözaydın was born in1959 in İstanbul. He graduated in 1977 from Üsküdar American High School for Girls, and in 1981 from İstanbul University's School of Law. In 1982, she started his academic career as a research assistant at the same faculty's section for Administrative Law. In 1986-1987, she went to the USA with Fulbright for graduate studies. In 1986, she followed Georgetown University International Law Institute’s certificate program on US legal system, after which she earned her MSc degree in 1987 from New York University and in 1991, her PhD from İstanbul University's School of Law. She became associate professor in 1997 and full professor in 2006. 

Her academic studies concentrate on religion-state relation;   the role of religion in Turkey's foreign policy; religion-based discrimination and law-politics relations. Also being a founding member of Citizenship Association (formerly known as Helsinki Citizens Assembly), Gözaydın has an array of international and national publications.