‘We are all in the same boat,’ says the appointed President of Boğaziçi University

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Appointed to Boğaziçi, one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a Presidential decree, Prof. Melih Bulu has released a statement on social media regarding his appointment to the position and ongoing criticisms about his appointment.

CLICK - 'We don't accept, we don't give up!'

A candidate for nomination to run in the Parliamentary elections for President Erdoğan's ruling AKP in 2015, Melih Bulu's appointment has been severely criticized both by the students and faculty members of the university as well as the wider academic community.

While students have been campaigning under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee university president), the faculty members have also released a statement and said, "We do not accept it as it clearly violates academic freedom and scientific autonomy as well as the democratic values of our university."

'Cooperation with the sector, innovation, ...'

Releasing a statement titled "Hello Boğaziçi" on his Twitter account within this context, Prof. Melih Bulu has said, "Making Boğaziçi University a subject of the problems that it is not a party to will harm Boğaziçi the most. Let's not forget that we are all in the same boat."

"I greet all of you with love on the occasion of my appointment as a rector (university president) to Boğaziçi University, where I spent the best 8 years of my life," Bulu has said. Referring to "his 30-year experience in both private and civil society organizations," he has expressed his wish that Boğaziçi "ranks among the top 10 universities of the world."

"For this reason, returning to Boğaziçi, one of the leading universities of our country, excites me to every inch of my body," he has said and added:

"I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our Mr. President and Mr. Council of Higher Education Chair (YÖK) Chair, who have deemed me worthy of this position within this context."

Referring to his "studies at Boğaziçi, the opportunity to make practice in the private sector and to gain experience in different universities as a head of department, dean and university president" as "happy coincidences that prepared him for today," Bulu has set four main goals for Boğaziçi University "so that it will come to its well-deserved place."

"My goal is to make Boğaziçi the first Turkish university to rank among the top 100 universities of the world and to be able to stay there within four years," Bulu has said and listed the other three goals as "cooperation with the sector", "entrepreneurship" and "innovation ecosystem."

What happened?

Prof. Melih Bulu has been appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University in a Presidential Decree issued on January 1. The appointment of Bulu has 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 have been campaigning on social media under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee university president).

The call of the students has also been supported by the academics from the university, who released a joint statement yesterday (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.

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. (RT/SD)