Boğaziçi honorary doctorate recipients express concern over developments at the university
Photo: Can Candan
Click to read the article in Turkish
Sixteen intellectuals who received an honorary doctorate from Boğaziçi University have released a joint statement expressing their concerns over the events that have taken place since the president's rector appointment at the start of 2021, caused protests by students and academics that are still continuing.
Several renowned figures in Turkey, including composer Fazıl Say, economist Prof. Daron Acemoğlu, sociologist İsmail Beşikçi, and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, as well as Prof. Federico Mayor, a former minister of education and science of Spain and a former UNESCO deputy general director, are among the signatories.
CLICK - 62 weeks, 430 days | Resistance at Boğaziçi University continues
Full text of the statement:
As recipients of honorary doctorate degrees from Boğaziçi University, we have been watching the developments unfolding at Boğaziçi University with great concern since January 2, 2021.
Universities are places where scientific knowledge and creative thoughts are generated, nurtured, and freely expressed. They are also enriched with culture and art, and thus contribute to the enrichment of society. Clearly, any accomplished university must have an academic and administrative governance structure that is transparent, accountable, and participatory. We are well aware that the reason Boğaziçi University alumni have made numerous contributions to the world of culture, art and science is closely related to the democratic and pluralistic values represented by the university. Presently, we are seeing that the Boğaziçi University tradition, with its environment and academic culture that fosters a polyphony of viewpoints, is under threat. Boğaziçi University has a history that spans 158 years, and is a robust member of the international academic community; we fear that the interventions made since January 2, 2021, will destroy the democratic values of Boğaziçi University, resulting in diminished academic excellence that will lead to perhaps irreversible public damage.
We stand firm in our belief that any efforts to shape academic and administrative governance in higher education, must prioritize the principles of academic freedom, university autonomy, transparency, and accountability, and declare that we stand with the just demands made by the people who make up Boğaziçi University, which awarded us with our honorary doctorate degrees.
Özgen Acar (Journalist, Recipient of Four Appreciation Plaques Given by the Ministry of Culture),
Prof. Dr. Daron Acemoğlu (Institute Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology),
Prof. Dr. Tamer Başar (Swanlund Endowed Chair Emeritus & CAS Professor Emeritus of ECE, University of Illinois),
Prof. Dr. Şeyla Benhabib (Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Emerita, Yale University & Senior Scholar in Residence and Professor (Adjunct) of Law, Columbia Law School),
Prof. Dr. Engin Bermek
İsmail Beşikçi (Sociologist, Writer, 2012 Hrant Dink Award of the Hrant Dink Foundation),
İdil Biret (Pianist, State Artist of the Republic of Turkey since 1971)
Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Film director, Screenwriter, Recipient of the 2014 Palme d'Or Prize),
Prof. Dr. Zeynep Çelik (Professor of History, Columbia University, Sakıp Sabancı University & Distinguished Professor Emerita, Architecture, New Jersey Institute of Technology),
Prof. Dr. Erol Gelenbe (Professor in the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Informatics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Former Nello L. Teer Endowed Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Former Dennis Gabor Chair, Imperial College, Honorary Fellow of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Islamic Academy of Sciences, Foreign Fellow of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Belgium and the Science Academy of Poland, Fellow of the National Academy of Technologies of France),
Prof. Dr. Federico Mayor (President of the Culture of Peace Foundation. Autonomous University of Madrid, Former Rector of the Granada University (1968 – 1972), Former Minister of Education and Science of Spain (1981 – 1982) & Director General of UNESCO (1987 – 1999),
Prof. Dr. Justin Mc Carthy (Emeritus Professor & Distinguished University Scholar, University of Louisville),
Gülsin Onay (Pianist, State Artist of the Republic of Turkey since 1987),
Orhan Pamuk (Recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature & Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University),
Fazıl Say (Pianist and Composer, 2008 Ambassador of Intercultural Dialogue),
İlhan Usmanbaş (Contemporary Classical Music Composer, State Artist since 1971)
What happened?Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the rector of Boğaziçi University by a Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette on January 2, 2021. The appointment of Bulu sparked harsh criticisms among both the students and academics of the university as well as in the academic community. Appointed to Boğaziçi, one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, from outside its community, Bulu was a candidate for nomination to run in the Parliamentary elections in 2015 for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The students and several students' clubs of the university campaigned on social media under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee-rector). The call of the students was also supported by the faculty members of the university, who released a joint statement on January 3. "An academic outside Bogazici University community was appointed as a rector, which is a practice introduced for the first time after the 1980s military tutelage," read the statement of the faculty members. Amid harsh criticisms of students and faculty members, Prof. Bulu shared a message on his Twitter account, welcoming his appointment to the position, saying, "We are all in the same boat." The students protested the appointment of Bulu in front of the South Campus of the university in İstanbul on January 4. However, the police intervened into the protest with pepper gas and plastic bullets. Next day, it was reported that there were detention warrants against 28 people for "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations" and "resisting the officer on duty." Later in the day, 22 of them were detained. 40 people in total were detained over the protests. All of the detained were released on January 7 and 8, 2021. The protests of students and faculty members at the South Campus of Boğaziçi University have been going on since January 4. Taken into custody over a picture of the Kaaba, a sacred site in Islam, with a Shahmaran figure and four LGBTI+ flags on its corners, two students were arrested and two were placed under house arrest over this picture displayed at an exhibition as part of the protests at the South Campus. On February 1, police stormed the South Campus and intervened into the students' protests. Earlier in the day, the students gathered in front of the campus for the protest. Police hindered the protest while also preventing the students inside the South Campus from joining their friends outside. With the 51 students taken into custody inside the campus in the evening, the number of detained increased to 159. In a statement released by the İstanbul Governor's Office in the early morning hours on February 2, it was announced that 98 students were released from detention. On February 2, Boğaziçi University students gathered in Kadıköy Rıhtım for another protest, which was attacked by the police with plastic bullets and tear gas. 134 people were taken into custody by the police. Two of the protesters were arrested by the court afterwards. On February 6, four more people were arrested and two others were placed under house arrest over their participation in Boğaziçi protests in Kadıköy. On the same day, Erdoğan issued a Presidential decree to open two new faculties at the university. In response to this, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform addressed an open letter to the "12th President of Turkey." A day later, student Beyza Buldağ was taken into custody for allegedly administering the "Boğaziçi Solidarity" Twitter account and arrested for "provoking the public to hatred, enmity and hostility" and "provoking to commit crimes" over both the letter and other Twitter posts. As of February 7, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform announced that at least 560 students were detained, 25 were sentenced to house arrest and 10 were arrested. Students have been arrested on charges of "degrading or provoking the public to hatred and hostility" and "resisting to prevent fulfilment of duty" as per the Articles 216 and 265 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). On February 10, one more student was arrested. With the release of Beyza Buldağ and Muhammed Önal on February 12, there remained nine students arrested over Boğaziçi University protests against the appointed rector. On February 22, two more students were placed under house arrest on the grounds that they distributed the letter of an arrested student to citizens. As the protests continued, President Erdoğan on July 15 sacked Melih Bulu. The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) appointed Vice-Rector Naci İnci as the acting rector one day later. On August 20, 2021, President Erdoğan appointed İnci as the new rector. As of January 5, 2021, two students were arrested for protesting the appointment of Naci İnci. They were released on probation at their first hearing on January 7. On January 19, 2022, the academics of Boğaziçi University announced that in line with the decision taken at the meeting of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) on January 18, Prof. Özlem Berk Albachten, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Metin Ercan, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Prof. Yasemin Bayyurt, the Dean of the Faculty of Education, have been removed from office by the rectorate. Shortly afterwards, appointed rector Prof. Naci İnci has appointed himself as the acting dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in place of elected dean Özlem Berk Albachten, who has been removed from office. Three deans were appointed from outside Boğaziçi University on March 5 to replace the three elected deans removed from office. |
(RT/VK)