Turkey: the mathematician prevented from returning to France recovers his passport
Tuna Altinel, March 24, 2021 in Istanbul.
AFP - BULENT KILIC
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Turkish mathematician Tuna Altinel will finally be able to return to France.
Lecturer at Lyon-I University, he had been stuck for two years in Turkey where he had become a symbol of the repression against academics.
Publicity
Read more
Lecturer at Claude-Bernard University in Lyon, where he has lived for 25 years, Tuna Altinel had his passport confiscated while he was spending his holidays in Turkey.
Ankara accused this Turkish national of having participated in a pro-Kurdish meeting in France, accusing him of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Arrested, imprisoned and
finally acquitted
, Tuna Altinel had been stranded for two years in his country because of Ankara's refusal to return his passport to him.
His case had become one of the symbols of the repression against the academic world and pro-Kurdish circles.
"
I am the hostage of the Turkish state
," he said.
According to his support committee: finding his passport is a huge step towards freedom for this mathematician recognized in academic circles for his work on mathematical logic and group theory.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Turkey
Human rights