Photos: Boğaziçi Resistance/Twitter
Click to read the article in Turkish
Academics and students of Boğaziçi University have staged a protest march against the appointment of a new rector to the school.
Marching from the North Campus to the South Campus, they chanted "Trustees will go, we will stay," and displayed placards that read, "95 percent rejects" and "We don't accept this trustee, either."
Having been deployed on the campus for eight months, police attempted to prevent the march at one point.
Meanwhile, eight Boğaziçi students were detained while reading out a statement in front of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) Sarıyer District Organization. They were released after giving statements to the police.
Students protesting on the campus:
Gün gelecek, devran dönecek, AKP halka hesap verecek! pic.twitter.com/Ji9Dq5q0Cc
— Boğaziçi Dayanışması (@boundayanisma) August 23, 2021
On Friday (August 20), President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Acting Rector Prof. Naci İnci as the new rector.
İnci had been the acting rector since Erdoğan sacked his previous appointee, Prof. Melih Bulu, on July 14 after months of protests. He served as the vice-rector during Bulu's tenure and has been among the main targets of the protests.
The academics and students of the university want a democratically elected rector.
The academics also continued their protests by turning their backs to the rector's office for the 154th time.
Releasing a statement, they said that İnci's candidacy was opposed by 95 percent of the academics in a vote held last month.
As the acting rector, İnci arbitrarily dismissed lecturers Can Candan and Feyzi Erçin and Cemre Baytok, the Coordinator of Sexual Harassment Prevention Commission, they noted.
Academics turning their backs to the rector's office.
"In the same period, Naci İnci disregarded internal procedures, rules and legal regulations in decision-making processes; violated the will of committees such as departments, faculties, University Board of Directors and the Senate," says the academics' statement.
"Because of these unlawful practices, nearly a hundred of our professors filed various lawsuits and criminal complaints, which also included the offense of 'abuse of office.'
"Naci İnci put our students under pressure with unfair and unlawful disciplinary investigations."
The academics said that the criteria for the appointment of the rector should be disclosed and asked why İnci was appointed despite being opposed by the constituents of the school.
Boğaziçi University ProtestsProf. 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). 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. As the protests continued, President Erdoğan on July 15 sacked Melih Bulu. The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) appointed Vice-Rector Naci İnci as the acting rector one day later. On August 20, President Erdoğan appointed İnci as the new rector. |
(DŞ/VK)
