Boğaziçi University | Three deans removed from office

Amid protests against appointed rector Naci İnci, it has been announced that three elected deans of Boğaziçi University have been removed from office by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

İstanbul

Boğaziçi University | Three deans removed from office

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The academics of Boğaziçi University have announced that in line with the decision taken at the meeting of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) on January 18, Prof. Özlem Berk Albachten, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Metin Ercan, the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Prof. Yasemin Bayyurt, the Dean of the Faculty of Education, have been removed from office by the rectorate.

The academics of the related faculties made statements for the press in front of the three faculties of the university today (January 20).

Referring to the first rector appointment on January 1, 2021, when Melih Bulu came into office, the academics said that the interventions in the university since then have been causing irreversible damage to Boğaziçi. After the statements, the academics came in front of the Rectorate at the South Campus for their daily vigil against Naci İnci, the appointed rector.

It has yet not been announced who have been appointed in place of the deans who have been removed from office.

Statements by the academics

In their statement about the dismissals, the academics of the Faculty of Education recalled that their dean Prof. Yasemin Bayyurt has been removed from office by the Rectorate upon the decision taken at the YÖK meeting on January 18, 2022. The academics underlined that Prof. Ayyurt was elected by receiving the votes of the vast majority of the faculty members.

The academics of the Faculty of Education defined this recent move as "a continuation of the intervention into the university since January 1, 2021" and underlined that they find it "unacceptable".

The academics of the faculty declared to the public that "as they indicated several times before, such interventions cause great damage to the activities of education and research at the university." Accordingly, they called on the relevant authorities to "take a step back from this public loss" and "to put a halt to the unlawful practices targeting the university."

The academics of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences also recalled in their statement that Prof. Özlem Berk Albachten was elected as their dean by receiving the votes of the vast majority of the faculty members.

In their statement in front of the faculty, the academics of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences also stressed that "removing Prof. Metin Ercan, a dean elected and appointed in line with the due procedure, from office without citing any legitimate justification is against the principles of law, justice and governance." The academics of the faculty further underlined that "such fait accompli interventions deal yet another grave blow to the autonomy of the university, which has been rendered non-functional despite being guaranteed by the Constitution."

The academics stressed that this recent move "manifests the crisis of governance and legitimacy at the university one more time."

Accordingly, the academics made a call for the reinstatement of the dismissed dean and the compensation of the related public loss.

What happened?

Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the rector of Boğaziçi University by a Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette on January 2, 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 a rector, which is a practice introduced for the first time after the 1980s military tutelage," read the statement of the faculty members.

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, 2021, President Erdoğan appointed İnci as the new rector. As of January 5, 2021, two students were arrested for protesting the appointment of Naci İnci. They were released on probation at their first hearing on January 7.

(TP/SD)