From a privileged life in Istanbul to being a single-parent

 Today she lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Järnåkra and sleeps in the living room. She has the sole responsibility for ensuring their day-to-day life works – just like any other Swedish single parent. 
"My friends and family in Turkey probably thought I was not going to manage everything because I was all alone, without any financial support or anybody to help me practically on a daily basis. But I knew it was going to work", says Pinar Dinc, who adds that they are now impressed by the journey she has taken in life. Visits to Lund from her mother and a cousin have also meant a lot. 

The reason for her move had a lot to do with her decision to separate from her husband and, following the divorce, not being able to afford to pay for a good school for their daughter. The choice of school often determines the future of children in Turkey. Private schools offer better opportunities, but they also demand high incomes. Seven-year-old Bade now attends the International School in Lund and Pinar Dinc sees it as a fantastic advantage that the education is fee-free, something that definitely counterbalances the fact that she does not have her own room at home.  

"I fought to be able to emancipate myself and provide my daughter with a good upbringing. To do that, I had to move to a new country and start my life again."

Her subject became controversial

When Pinar Dinc started researching in 2010 her subject was collective memory and the struggle around identity in the Dersim region, with the official name Tunceli, in eastern Turkey. A large proportion of the population there come from different minority groups in the region, including Kurds and Alevis. Even the secret paramilitary movement PKK, who are terror-listed in many countries, have bases in Dersim and there has been conflict between PKK and the Turkish army for decades.  

When she finished her PhD thesis in 2016, the situation was entirely different. The peace negotiations came to an abrupt end in the summer of 2015 and instead, war broke out within the cities in Southeastern Turkey.

2016 was a fateful year for academic freedom in Turkey

It was a fateful year for academic freedom in Turkey. More than 2000 academics, from senior academics to doctoral students in different disciplines, signed the Academics for Peace Petition. It demanded the end of violence against Kurds in Southeastern Turkey, the renewal of peace negotiations and the invitation of independent international observers to the region. President Erdogan reacted forcefully and accused all of the signatories of being terrorists.

Over 400 academics were immediately dismissed from their universities with no legal process. At the same time, many had their passports cancelled indefinitely. Some of the academics left Turkey to apply for asylum abroad, but for those who had their passports cancelled there was no legal way to leave the country. The request to support the Peace Petition did not reach Pinar Dinc as she was offline for personal reasons when it happened. Nevertheless, she says she would have liked to sign it.

Pinar Dinc's partner was prosecuted  

One person who did sign it was Ömer Turan, who is a visiting researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies and Pinar Dinc's current partner. Like the others, he was labelled a terrorist, charged and had to defend himself at trial. 

"We worked on his defence speech together. During all of the trials there were many academics who came to support each other – and they were often fantastic speeches", she says.

According to a report from the international network Scholars at Risk, the trials led to over 7 500 academics being dismissed, hundreds sent to prison and tens of thousands of students suspended from their studies. 

"But Ömer was lucky, he was acquitted, and did not lose his job or passport. Everyone was affected differently and it was impossible to predict the rulings. Ömer was employed by a private university that chose to treat him well", she says.

Many of the Peace Petitioners were bullied at their universities

However, at other universities the signatories of the petition were bullied while awaiting trial. Pinar Dinc describes academics being frozen out and vilified. One academic's office door was covered in abusive graffiti. When an attempt at a military coup was carried out in Turkey later in 2016, it also gave president Erdogan the chance to pursue and try to silence other critical voices. Nearly all opposition was affected and silenced. And the repercussions at the universities affected all staff and it is therefore impossible for Pinar Dinc to disconnect her own life and research from what has happened in Turkey in recent years. The reason she decided to uproot her life and leave Istanbul, aside from wanting a better start in life for her daughter, was to be able to keep researching in a place with academic freedom.  

"I was close to breaking point from the nerves before I got the grant"

After three years in Sweden, everything was hanging on whether she would receive a new grant. When the news came that she had been awarded a three-year FORMAS grant, the champagne corks were popping. 

"Before that, I was close to breaking point from the nerves. It means everything – I have a possible future as a researcher – but, above all, my daughter and I can become Swedish citizens." 

She says that neither students, teaching staff nor researchers are free from the consequences of president Erdogan's regime and the restrictions on the academic freedom in Turkey.

"We all feel the pressure. It has a lot to do with the uncertainty – it is impossible to say which research results or lectures will lead to penaltiess", says Pinar Dinc, who adds that she does not believe she could carry out the research she has conducted at Lund University in the past two and a half years at a Turkish university.  

Now they have settled in well in little Lund

She came here on a scholarship from the Swedish Institute and carried out research on the Rojava conflict, something that would certainly not be possible Turkey. Then she was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship to work on the FIRE project, which focused on researching the connection between armed conflicts and forest fires in Turkey, Israel and Syria and the impact they have on the environment in the Middle East. The title of her thesis includes the word Dersim, a name that is controversial in the Turkish state. None of this would have been possible without problems in her homeland. 

"I do not know if the security services are monitoring me or not. However, I get stressed every time I walk through Turkish customs, because you never know", says Pinar Dinc, who adds that she often posts on social media to draw attention to what the authoritarian regime is doing In Turkey.  

After three years in Lund, Pinar Dinc and her daughter have settled in well and made new connections. They are happy and Pinar Dinc feels the significant fresh start has been successful. She is happy in little Lund, with its quiet Sunday mornings and the possibility to walk everywhere.  

"I am proud that I came all the way here and that I managed it all myself – from applying for grants to organising housing and a good school and making friends", she says.

Starting to visualize a life as Swedes

Sometimes she feels bad about the fact that her Turkish colleagues are not able to experience the same freedom she has here. Many families have suffered greatly in the past four years.  

"I try to do what I can", says Pinar Dinc, who is involved in Academics at Risk in solidarity with the signatories of the Peace Petition. Together with her colleagues, she is also planning a seminar series at Lund University, which will strengthen the ties between Turkish researchers and Swedish academia. Pinar Dinc does not support a total boycott of Turkish universities, as not all of the universities took part in destroying the lives of the academics who signed the Peace Petition. However, she believes there should be a boycott of those universities that, in different ways, punished their employees.

However, there is hope now, even in Turkey – a surprising ruling has made it clear that the academics were within their rights as citizens to sign the petition; however, nobody knows if this will give them their jobs back.  

Following receipt of the Formas grant, Pinar Dinc is starting to be able to visualise her and her daughter's future in Sweden and hopefully in Lund. 

"I will not be able to ensure that my daughter inherits a fortune – but I will be able to provide her with Swedish citizenship and many, many books, and that is not too bad", says Pinar Dinc.