{"id":4834,"date":"2026-07-25T11:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/?p=4834"},"modified":"2026-07-25T11:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T11:07:56","slug":"the-worlds-concerns-are-our-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/?p=4834&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The World\u2019s Concerns Are Our Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If, one day, we are asked, \u201cYou were scattered across the four corners of the globe. Open universities, free academic platforms, and countless opportunities lay before you. For God\u2019s sake, why didn\u2019t you work?\u201d\u2014do we have an answer ready?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is done is done. We did not leave the country of our own volition or as part of a plan for a better life. We were torn away from our homes, universities, students, colleagues, and the lives we were accustomed to. Some lost their jobs overnight; others left due to investigations launched against them; and some left their entire pasts behind to safeguard their children’s futures. Initially, migration was not a bold step toward a new life for us, but rather a forced path chosen simply to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years have passed since then. Most of us managed to gain a foothold in the countries we settled in. We learned new languages, underwent retraining, strove to have our degrees recognized, and worked in roles far below our previous professional levels. We rose again and re-established our careers. Our children adapted to new schools. We forged new friendships. In many respects, we attained lives that are safer, more orderly, and more prosperous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desiring a safe and dignified life is a fundamental human right. Yet, our story should not end there. Among those who left the country due to forced migration, there are many highly qualified individuals\u2014academics, physicians, engineers, teachers, legal professionals, artists, and entrepreneurs. These people represent not only a loss of human capital for the country they left behind but also a tremendous asset gained by humanity. It would be a significant shortcoming for people who have undergone years of education and rigorous examinations\u2014and who have managed to maintain their integrity and drive to work despite immense pressure\u2014to reduce their lives solely to the pursuit of higher salaries, more comfortable homes, and more secure futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are under no obligation to forget the injustices inflicted upon us. Yet, we cannot devote all our energy to settling scores with the past. We must not allow those who displaced us to dictate the course of the rest of our lives. Their oppression may have forced us to migrate, but they should not determine the kind of people we become after that migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our new countries have offered us more than just a roof over our heads; they have provided us with the opportunity to rethink, work, create, and breathe freely. What is expected of us in return goes beyond merely obeying the rules or paying taxes. The true measure lies in what we contribute to these societies\u2014to their scholarship, education, economy, culture, and moral fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This responsibility weighs even more heavily on academics. Being an academic is not simply about securing a university position, increasing one\u2019s publication count, or attaining an academic title. An academic\u2019s duty is to generate knowledge, uphold the truth, mentor young people, and find solutions to the complex challenges facing society. An academic who was silenced in their home country should not be content with merely rebuilding their old career in their new one. Someone who knows what it means to be silenced ought to listen more attentively to others’ voices. Someone who has experienced injustice should place science at the service of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, learning the language of the new country is not merely a technical skill that facilitates daily life. Language is the key to integrating into society, forging genuine connections with people, and conveying our ideas to others. Without sufficiently learning the language of a society, we cannot touch its wounds, participate in its debates, shape its institutions, or contribute to its vision of the future. Learning a language, acquiring a profession, and familiarizing ourselves with new systems are matters of social responsibility just as much as they are matters of personal success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, making a contribution does not solely mean making major discoveries or attaining high office. Lending a hand to a student, guiding an immigrant youth, conducting reliable research in the laboratory, caring well for a patient, acting fairly within our workplace, or standing up for the truth in a scientific debate\u2014these, too, are contributions. Sometimes, changing the world begins simply by doing the job right in the very room where we find ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, two paths lie before us. The first is to build a life that shrinks around the trauma we have experienced: to recount the past over and over, to endlessly replay in our minds the grievances of what was done to us, and to focus solely on preserving the prosperity we have achieved. The second path is to transform our experiences into a sense of responsibility: to use our pain to understand others’ suffering, our knowledge to improve others’ lives, and our freedom to serve the common causes of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second path is more difficult. Yet, it is the one that befits us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, future generations will look back at this vast community of people who have scattered across the globe in recent years. They will say, “These people endured so much.” Then, they will ask: “So, what did they do when they were given the opportunity to think, speak, and create anew? Did they merely save their own lives? Did they simply live in better homes and earn higher salaries? Or did they transform their knowledge, their experiences, and their pain into a force for the good of humanity?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we fail to provide a good answer to this question, it cannot be forgiven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For we no longer have the right to say, “If only those before us had opened up to the world, reached more people, and accomplished greater things.” It is we who must reach the diverse corners of humanity. It is we who must learn new languages, enter new institutions, generate scientific knowledge, mentor students, champion justice, and seek solutions to the issues facing the societies in which we live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to look back and ask, “Why didn’t you do it?” Yet, the people of tomorrow will ask us the very same question: “You were present across the globe. You were in universities, hospitals, schools, laboratories, and think tanks. You possessed knowledge, experience, and freedom. Why didn’t *you* do it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were forced to migrate. We lost a great deal. Yet today, we have reached many countries around the world. We can no longer be content with merely tallying our losses. In the places where we reside, we must not simply exist; we must create, nurture, improve, and leave a lasting mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may not be possible for all of us to achieve great things. Yet, if even five out of a thousand individuals produce an enduring work in their field\u2014contributing to a significant scientific discovery, mentoring hundreds of students, transforming an institution\u2019s culture of justice and merit, or offering a solution to a shared human challenge\u2014then this migration will not remain merely a story of loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, for those five individuals to emerge, all thousand of us must set out with a lofty goal. Let us not hear this said to us tomorrow: \u201cYou were there. You were scattered across the four corners of the globe. Open universities, free academic platforms, and countless opportunities lay before you. For God\u2019s sake, why didn\u2019t you do it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I repeat: If we have no answer to such a question, that is something truly unforgivable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are no longer merely the victims of a lost homeland. We are physicians, teachers, researchers, and citizens of Germany, America, Canada, the UK, Australia, and other countries where we reside. At the same time, we are the bearers of a wealth of knowledge and experience that Turkey lost, but humanity gained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, we must set our sights high. We must transcend the boundaries of our own small worlds and place our knowledge, professional expertise, and moral values \u200b\u200bat the service of all humanity. We cannot shoulder the entire burden of the world alone; yet, each of us can help carry a share of that load right where we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our task is not merely to hold on, but to take root, bear fruit, and leave behind a more just world for those who come after us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* This piece is addressed to those who have been forced to leave Turkey over the past decade.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If, one day, we are asked, \u201cYou were scattered across the four corners of the globe. Open universities, free academic platforms, and countless opportunities lay before you. For God\u2019s sake, why didn\u2019t you work?\u201d\u2014do we have an answer ready? What is done is done. We did not leave the country of our own volition or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/academicsolidarity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20260725Dunyanin-Derdi-Bizim-Derdimiz.png?fit=1448%2C1086&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4836,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834\/revisions\/4836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academicsolidarity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}