The founding declaration of the Academy of Science and Enlightenment was presented by Prof. Dr Erhan Nalçacı, a professor of neurophysiology and a central committee member of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP).
In the founding declaration of the Academy, it is stated that the academic life in Turkey has lost its significance for quite a long time resulting from the erosion of a secular regime and the Republic in Turkey. The capitalist class is able to maintain its rule by depending on reactionism and that is how reactionism has managed to penetrate into the whole academic world in Turkey, the declaration said.
The declaration also noted that "in addition to Islamic reactionism, there are several popular academic trends based on philosophical idealism" and that the academicians are forced to make publications in these fields, impairing the holistic perception of scientists.
"The whole crisis of our era negatively influences the scientists, the academy itself and the scientific desire to grasp the universe, creating deformations and gaps", said the declaration, announcing a long-termed struggle under the name of the "Academy of Science and Enlightenment".
The Academy declared its objectives as "struggling against reactionary ideologies in scientific disciplines; founding a materialist unity among different scientific disciplines; integrating natural and social sciences on the basis of philosophy and history of science by making use of dialectical materialism; striving for enlightenment in and through different scientific disciplines."
The Academy announced that it will host the 6th Symposium on Evolution, Science and Education will be held on December 22-23 in İstanbul, Turkey. The academy will start publishing its scientific researches through an online publication in 2018.
Calling on all academicians and scientists to fight against the darkness together, the academy of science and enlightenment has declared its foundation with 40 members from various academic disciplines.
