Minister says ‘free thought’, police tear down students’ library

* Photos: Anadolu Agency (AA), Boğaziçi Solidarity

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and Boğaziçi University have signed a protocol on Smart Transport Systems.

In the meeting held at the South Campus of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul, Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu and the appointed rector of the university Prof. Melih Bulu made speeches on this occasion.

Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu has said that "working together with both the private sector and the academic community, they build permanent works for Turkey's future quickly and in high quality."

The Minister has noted that "they sign a cooperation protocol with Boğaziçi University, one of the most established educational institutions of Turkey, on 'Driving Architecture and Traffic Management with Autonomous Vehicles', which can be considered a first in the world."

Minister Karaismailoğlu has said that "Turkey will be a trailblazing country in realizing advanced engineering technologies."

'University is the cradle of free thought'

According to the Minister, "Turkey had long lived with an idle imagination and broken spirit." Referring to the year 2003, a year after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, he said:

"But, since 2003, we have set aside the roles and scenarios seen appropriate for us by the so-called developed world. With a completely different perspective for future, we set out to shape the destiny of our geography from scratch. Your existence is vital for this journey's success."

"University must naturally be the cradle of free thought and intellectual discussions," he has noted, adding that "they have always been on the side of young people who produce and they will continue to do so."

Students' library torn down

In the meanwhile, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform has announced that the library that has been on display at the South Campus since 2018 has been removed by the plain clothes police officers upon the order of the appointed rector, Melih Bulu. "They cannot even tolerate the works that we have brought to the campus to exchange books," they have protested.

"We will produce as long as you destroy," they have added.

'It will have environmentalist outcomes'

Facing the students' requests for his resignation for nearly five months now, appointed rector Bulu has also said:

"I think signing this protocol is very important. Because smart transport will be a very important part of our lives in the coming years. This will have several benefits. First of all, the number of car accidents will drop considerably. It will bring about an incredible energy efficiency. Smart transport systems will have very environmentally friendly outcomes.

"Smart transport is a very hard problem. This has a legal side to, it has the dimension of energy and software. For this reason, it is a problem that needs to be solved by interdisciplinary teams. For this reason, since the very first day I came, I have been telling our professors in meetings that I would love to give all sorts of support for smart transport systems. I would like to thank all of our professors who have contributed to this, primarily our Minister."

(DŞ/SD)