Investigation against the dean threatening Boğaziçi students, academics

* Photo: Trakya University

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Trakya University has announced that an investigation has been launched against Prof. Cevdet Kılıç, the Dean of Theology Faculty, for threatening the students and academics who join the Boğaziçi protests.

While the protests against Prof. Melih Bulu, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University, are still ongoing, Prof. Kılıç from Trakya University Faculty of Theology posted a message on his Facebook account.

In his message, the Dean said, "You are from Boğaziçi or I don't know from where... Don't ever think about it. We don't go out after performing an ablution. We are already ritually clean. We would like you to know..."

Further in his message, he said:

"Let me put it this way: You have been protesting for over a month, right? We won't protest or something. We will get the job done at night and go to work the next morning. I would like you to know."

After these remarks caused a public outrage, the Rector's Office of Trakya University has released a written statement and announced that "an investigation has been launched against Prof. Cevdet Kılıç by the university due to a message that he shared on his personal social media account."

Kılıç: I will file a criminal complaint

Following this investigation, Prof. Cevdet Kılıç has shared another Facebook message. He has indicated that "he is deeply saddened and hurt, like every other Turkish citizen, when he sees that some deep structures appear during the protests and malign their sacreds."

Referring to his remarks of "You are from Boğaziçi or I don't know from where...", he has said that he uttered these remarks considering the fact that "there were people from outside Boğaziçi among the detained, several people with links to some illegal organizations were caught during the protests and other countries were making one statement after another, interfering in the internal affairs of Turkey."

The Dean has also explained why he said, "Don't ever think about it. We will get the job done at night and go to work the next morning." According to this second statement, these sentences were a reference to the military coup attempt on July 15, 2016, when several citizens took to the streets at night to stop the coup and "everyone went to work the next morning."

"This is not a hate speech or a speech involving violence," he has argued, adding that "his statement did not target or address students."

"What we said was addressed to the foreign-supported provocateurs making an attempt on our nation and flag with their separatist and destructive hate speech and actions instead of living in unity and fraternity in our heavenly homeland," Prof. Kılıç has noted.

Concluding his remarks, Dean Prof. Cevdet Kılıç has announced that he will file a criminal complaint against the ones "who distorted his remarks and ran a lynch campaign against him." (EKN/SD)