BOĞAZİÇİ RECTOR APPOINTMENT

University of Amsterdam academics, students announce support for Boğaziçi University

Students and academics of Boğaziçi University have been protesting the new rector for two weeks.

İstanbul

University of Amsterdam academics, students announce support for Boğaziçi University

"We don't want a trustee-rector"

Click to read the article in Turkish

Students and academics from the University of Amsterdam have released a statement in support of Boğaziçi University students and academics, who have been protesting the appointment of a new rector on January 1.

Prof. Melih Bulu was the first rector appointed to the university from outside of its community since the early 1980s when a military government was at the power following a coup d'etat in 1980.

Over the past two weeks, dozens of academics have been protesting the rector by turning their back to the rector's office. Students were subjected to violent police response while protesting the rector.

The community of the University of Amsterdam condemned the police violence against the students and called on Prof. Bulu to resign. Here is the full text of their statement:

We, as colleagues and students at the University of Amsterdam, condemn the repressive and violent responses that our colleagues and fellow students at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul have been confronted with during legitimate requests for their university's autonomy. In line with previous calls made by international academia, we call upon Professor Bulu to decline the position and we call upon the Turkish government to release any students still in custody, withdraw all charges, and respect academic freedom and university autonomy. We fully support the following statement of the Boğaziçi University's faculty as delivered on January 3, 2021:

On January 1, 2021, at midnight, an academic outside Boğaziçi University community was appointed as rector, which is a practice introduced for the first time after the 1980s military tutelage.

This is yet another case of many ongoing anti-democratic practices since 2016, aiming at abolishing rectorial elections. We do not accept it as it clearly violates academic freedom and scientific autonomy as well as the democratic values of our university. We refuse to compromise the principles the University Senate officially stated in 2012:

1. To enhance scientific research and social development, it is indispensable that universities be free from any pressure or influence from a person or an institution and not be used as a political tool.

2. For academic freedom, it is imperative that decision-making processes be delegated to democratically elected academic administrators and boards. All academic administrators including the Rector, Deans, Directors of Institute, Directors of Schools and Department Heads can be appointed only after being elected by the university community.

3. As universities are autonomous constitutional establishments, it is vital that university instructors and/or university boards decide on academic programs and research policies, which is an essential prerequisite for scientific freedom and creativity.

We strictly adhere to the principles above and we pledge to follow them up with all the other members of our university community.

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.

40 people in total were detained over the protests. All of the detained were released on January 7 and 8, 2021.

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.

(EKN/VK)