* Photo: Boğaziçi University academics
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Protesting the appointed rectors since January 2021, the faculty, students and alumni of Boğaziçi University have been granted the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) 2021 Academic Freedom Award.
The MESA made the Academic Freedom Award presentation on December 1, 2021 at a virtual awards ceremony held during its 55th annual meeting.
In representing the award winners, academic and documentary filmmaker Can Candan, who was dismissed by appointed rector Naci İnci on July 16, academic and lawyer Feyzi Erçin, whose courses were also ended by İnci's decision, students Rümeysa Özyağlı and Doğu Demirtaş, who was arrested on January 30 for opening the rainbow flag and released on March 17, and alumna Elçin Üner attended the virtual award ceremony.
Laurie Brand, Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF), on presenting the award, stated the following in brief:
"In highlighting the courageous resistance of the students and faculty at Boğaziçi, it is our intent that this award sends a strong message of solidarity and of support to them as they peacefully protest against the violations of academic norms and academic freedom.
"Boğaziçi is a privileged institution; its resistance has also been singular in Turkey's academic and political landscape.
"The appointments of [Rectors] Melih Bulu and Naci Inci must be seen as part of a larger, concerted effort by the government to end any independence of one of the last educational institutions in Turkey with a reputation for academic excellence—after years of systematic targeting of other educational institutions, faculty, and students in the country.
"Therefore, this award is also intended to serve as a statement of broader support and solidarity to all those in the educational sector across Turkey who have been targeted by the authoritarian policies of [President and ruling AKP Chair] Erdogan and his government."
As noted by the MESA, in 2021, CAF's MENA wing wrote 4 letters regarding these developments at Boğaziçi. The MESA board also issued a statement in solidarity with the protests at Boğaziçi University.
About the MESA
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) is a non-profit learned society that brings together scholars, educators and those interested in the study of the region from all over the world. From its inception in 1966 with 51 founding members, MESA has increased its membership to nearly 2,700 individuals and serves as an umbrella organization for fifty institutional members and thirty-nine affiliated organizations.
The Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) seeks to foster the free exchange of knowledge as a human right and to inhibit infringements on that right by government restrictions on scholars. The United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide the principal standards by which human rights violations are identified today. Those rights include the right to education and work, freedom of movement and residence, and freedom of association and assembly. (RT/SD)
