Boğaziçi students say they are 'constantly spied on' by private security officers

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Protesting the appointment of a new rector for two months now, Boğaziçi University students have been sticking a paper reading "Trustee's Office" on the sign of the rector's office and repeating this every day as it is removed shortly after.

An investigation has been opened against students for this protest and they learned it from private security officers, whom they call "collaborators."

An indictment concerning an exhibition at the university revealed to the public that private security officers had been identifying and reporting the protesters to the rector and the police.

Speaking to bianet about this "security problem," students said that even though they are of adult age, their families were called by the Governor's Office and the Security Directorate of İstanbul regarding the protests.

"Calling our families is unlawful"

Mehmet (We have changed students'S name in order to protect their privacy) said that his mother was called by an aide of the Deputy İstanbul Governor H.K. and told that the deputy governor wanted to visit them.

"He did not say exactly why he was going to visit. My mother reacted and said we did not want a visit. It was a short conversation," he said.

"I think this is an outcome of a policy of 'The state stands with students and puts a distance between them and the provocateurs.' With this pose, I think they are trying to whitewash themselves. But they haven't got what they expected so far.

"Calling the family of a person over the age of 18 is an entirely unlawful practice. According to what you call them?

"Last week, families of many people, including mine, were called by the security directorate. Speaking softly and carrying a big stick, they had said, 'Did you know that your child is participating in the Boğaziçi protests? We care about your child's future.'

"But we won't give up. On the contrary, I evaluate such developments positively."

The protest started by professors turning their backs to the rector's office continued with an open forum at the mini theater on the South Square. The students chanted slogans and attempted to leave the school from the Etiler door at around 16.00. After the police closed the Etiler door and told them they could exit the school using other doors, they chanted slogans insulting the police, the rector and security officers." - from a petition by a security officer.

"The new video camera"

Melis, another student, said, "In addition to plainclothes police officers, there are also the private security officers now. There are always four or five of them at the door of the trustee's office. They circumambulate the school all the time. They are looking at who is doing what.

"For 60 days, we have been setting our tent in front of the trustee's office and sticking a piece of paper that we wrote 'Trustee's Office' on the sign of the Rector's Office and this paper stays there as long as we are there.

"On the day they told us 'You can't hang it,' they had a video camera. We didn't see such a thing before. Because they would generally film us with phones. We got those photos deleted a couple of times.

"During the resistance, there have been a couple of things that we won. Hanging the 'Trustee's Office' sign and setting up the tent are among these. We don't really have the luxury to lose this space.

"We are actually in a really difficult situation. We are in a place where we are constantly being monitored and recorded by a camera, and we cannot track where this footage is sent to."

"We already enter the school with our ID numbers. They may angrily say, 'Take off your mask, I'll look at your face.' We are really putting a lot of effort to have a safe place."

During the blockade, the personnel were stuck in the rector's office. They wanted to make the personnel fear by hitting the windows of the entrance door. " - from a petition by a security officer.

"The real opposition and political memory"

Hülya says, "By manipulating the law in its favor, the government wants to think that we will feel intimidated under fear and pressure.

"We were all lynched. These things also happened during the term of Mehmed Özkan [the previous rector]. On my own behalf, I'm not someone who defends the culture of Boğaziçi. It's not so easy to study as a veiled woman at Boğaziçi.

"There is hidden Islamophobia here. As a veiled woman, I struggle alone. We don't love Boğaziçi University. But we currently have a platform where we can hold one another's hands. And I think this makes the government afraid. Their propaganda doesn't work.

"Releasing press statements by uttering the name of Süleyman Soylu [the minister of interior] has not been something that the opposition can do for years. This is not an easy thing. This is why they are trying to intimidate us. But we keep our morale high and continue.

"They turn off the electricity in our school buildings now. Because we have been organizing activities using electricity. We have been setting up a resistance tent for two months. We have been studying, reading books, and using projectors. But wherever we get electricity, the electricity in that place is cut off now."

"I'm not interested in whether Melih Bulu will go or not. I'm a person who grew up in Turkey. We remember the resolution process [to the Kurdish question], how Hrant dink was killed and the 'No votes if there are no veiled candidates' campaigns. We are not people whose political memory is not developed. Even my school that I do not like very much is being taken away from me. My house has been breached now. I'm actually doing what I can do as a human right now. "

"We have never talked about when the resistance will end. It will continue as far as it can go. We are not a few people unlike what people think. The situation inside is really bad but we are resisting to protect our humanity."

On February 1, 2021, students blockaded all the three doors of the rector's office and completely blocked the entrance and exits with slogans and applauds, while deflating the tires of a vehicle belonging to the rector's office." - from a petition by a security officer.

The 51 students released from detention

Ecrin says, "The first phone calls were after the detentions. They started by calling the families of 51 people who were detained. Our families said things such as 'I stand with my child. I support her. She didn't do anything wrong.'

"Someone named C.A. calls and says he is a police officer. He says things like 'We think your child is on the wrong path, it's our duty to get them on the right path. Were you aware that your child is participating in protests?' And my mother said, 'I am aware. I support her. I don't think she has done anything wrong. Besides, if you were going to notify us, you should do it when they were detained.'

"On the one hand, the person who calls speaks very softly. But he says 'We don't want anything to happen to them.' This is threatening. I would be lying if I say 'I'm not afraid.' But still, this is not a reason for us to give up. This is not something that will go away in six months unlike what Melih Bulu says. In the simplest term, everyone will turn their backs on him. They will always be a disgrace at the school. But we are very strong together."

What happened?

Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University in a Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette on January 1, 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 rector (university president), which is a practice introduced for the first time after the 1980s military tutelage," read their statement.

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).

CLICK - Why are 11 university students arrested?

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.

About Melih Bulu

Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the President of Haliç University on January 17, 2020. In office in this foundation university for less than a year, he has been appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University.

He was a Dean and University President at the İstinye University from 2016 to 2019. Between the years of 2010 and 2016, he was the Head of the Business Management Department of İstanbul Şehir University's Business Management and Management Science Faculty.

He was the General Coordinator of International Competitiveness Research Institute (URAK), an NGO working on economic competitiveness of cities and countries, from the year 2017 to 2019. Since 2011, he has been the Executive Board member of the İstanbul Electric-Electronic Machinery and Informatics Exporters R&D Market.

In 2002, he founded the Sarıyer District Organization of the ruling AKP in İstanbul. In 2015, he was a candidate for nomination to run in the Parliamentary elections from the AKP in the first election district in İstanbul.

He studied Industrial Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara in 1992. He did his MBA and PhD at Boğaziçi University's Department of Management.

(DŞ/VK)