Academic research on Syrian asylum seekers blocked

The Higher Education Council, known as YÖK, has reportedly written to universities warning them to first request permission from the Interior Ministry if they are planning on embarking on any sort of academic research concerning Syrian asylum seekers based in Turkey, writes Arife Kabil for Today’s Zaman.

The move has been seen as the government's intervention in academia to try and mitigate any possible damage caused by the publication of studies regarding the many asylum seekers who have fled from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Earlier this week around 5,000 Syrian asylum seekers were reported to have fled to Turkey via the south-eastern province of Sanliurfa as clashes between the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and the Democratic Union Party's armed militia intensified in Syrian towns close to the border.
Full report on the Today’s Zaman site