Another vocal critic of Mr. Erdogan’s government is Timur Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University.
"I’m spending twice as much time on Twitter writing messages than I normally would because I feel that I have an obligation to do this as someone who is free," he said. The scholars in Turkey who have gone quiet are watching what he’s saying on Twitter, Mr. Kuran said.
"It gives them a sense that someone in the world is paying attention and informing the rest of the world about the tragedies that are unfolding," he said. Mr. Kuran won’t bring up politics when speaking to people in Turkey and prefers to use encrypted-messaging applications like WhatsApp, rather than email or phone calls, to communicate.
"These are the types of precautions that Eastern Europeans and their relatives and co-nationals living in the West [during the Soviet era] are familiar with," he said.