6 more students suspended from Boğaziçi University for protesting appointed rector

* Photo: Ali Aktaş

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Six more students who protested Naci İnci, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University, on October 4, have faced disciplinary action. Upon İnci's request, the Disciplinary Board of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has suspended six students from the school for a week.

Due to the protest on October 4, 2021, two students of Boğaziçi University were arrested upon the complaint of Naci İnci. They have been held in solitary confinement for 49 days as of yesterday (November 23). While 12 students are on trial with judicial control measures and an international travel ban, 13 students have been suspended from the school.

They held a vigil for the 217th time

Yesterday marked the 324th day and 47th week of the protests against the rector appointments to Boğaziçi University in İstanbul.

Besides the protests of students, the academics of the university have also been turning their backs to the rectorate at South Campus in protest every workday. Holding their vigil for the 217th day yesterday, they once again said, "We don't accept, we don't give up."

They also carried banners of "We don't accept" and "We don't give up" as well as the photos of academics Can Candan and Feyzi Erçin, who were dismissed from the school and whose classes were closed.

In their statement marking the 324th day of their resistance, the academics recalled that it has been 92 days since Naci İnci was appointed as a rector by not consulting with any of the relevant boards and by disregarding the will of the institution; 127 days since Can Candan was dismissed from the university and 44 days since he was not allowed to enter the campus.

What happened?

With a Presidential decision published in the Official Gazette, President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Prof. Melih Bulu, an academic from outside Boğaziçi University's academic community, as the rector of the university on January 2, which was met with harsh criticism and protests of students, academics and alumni.

Amid these protests, Erdoğan removed Bulu from office with a Presidential decision on July 15; the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) appointed his vice rector Prof. Naci İnci as the acting rector.

The YÖK accepted applications for the rectorship of Boğaziçi University till August 2 and President Erdoğan has appointed Prof. Naci İnci, who accepted his appointment as a vice rector while his two students from the Physics Department were arrested over the protests, dismissed Can Candan and Feyzi Erçin from the university and received a vote of no confidence from 95 percent of Boğaziçi academics. (KÖ/SD)