Boğaziçi alumni, academics continue to protest rector appointed by Erdoğan

The appointment of a ruling party member, Prof. Melih Bulu, as the new president of the university has sparked outrage among its community.

İstanbul

Boğaziçi alumni, academics continue to protest rector appointed by Erdoğan

Academics protest the new rector every day by turning their back to the rector's office.

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Sixty-three alumni of Boğaziçi University, including writers and artists, have released a joint statement against the appointment of a pro-government rector, to the school.

A rector appointed without a democratic process would harm the traditional values that Boğaziçi has represented for 150 years, they said and cited the principles that the university accepted in 2012:

It is indispensable for scientific and social development that universities are not exposed to the influence or pressure of any person or institution and not used as a political instrument.
It is essential for autonomy that democratically elected committees and academic administrators have the decision-making authority. Academic administrators such as rectos, demand, institution directors, academy directors and department chairs should be determined not by appointments but by elections.
It is a condition of scientific freedom and creativity that universities, as autonomous constitutional institutions, determine their academic programs and research programs with the decision of academic staff and/or university committees.

"Considering the contribution of freedom of thought to human creativity, we put our signature under the basic values stated above in order to maintain the free and democratic environment, which is in the tradition of Boğaziçi University," says the statement.

Academics continue protesting the rector

Over the past week, academics from the university have been protesting Prof. Melih Bulu by turning their back to the rector's office every they, which they continued today (January 8).

They released a short statement, saying that for the first time since the period of the military government formed after the 1980 coup, a rector was appointed to Boğaziçi from outside.

The academic reiterated their commitment to the principles accepted by the university and said, "We don't accept, we don't give up."

Meanwhile, a rap group formed by Boğaziçi students released a song protesting the new rector:

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 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 has 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.

Forty people in total were detained over the protests.

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 the International Competitiveness Research Institute (URAK), an NGO working on the 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.

(EKN/DŞ/VK)