"We don't look down, we don't accept, we don't give up" (by Boğaziçi University academics)
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Academics of Boğaziçi University have demanded the release of the students detained at and outside their campus yesterday (February 1).
CLICK - Boğaziçi University protests: 98 students released
Police stormed the South Campus of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul yesterday evening (February 1) and intervened into the students' protests against the appointment of Prof. Melih Bulu as the new rector of their university by a decree of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on January 2.
Earlier yesterday, the students gathered in front of the South Campus for the protest. Police hindered this protest while also preventing the students inside the South Campus from joining their friends outside.
With the 51 students detained inside the campus, the number of detained increased to 159. The İstanbul Governor's Office, earlier this morning, announced that 98 students were released from detention.
'We don't look down, we don't accept'
The faculty members of the university are also still protesting Bulu by turning their backs to the Rector's Office at the South Campus in İstanbul.
In today's protest, the academics carried a banner that read, "We don't look down, we don't accept, we don't give up." They also carried the number "159" in their hands, signifying the students detained yesterday.
The academics also called on Melih Bulu ro resign from office. Coming together at the South Campus, the students and academics chanted the slogan, "Release our friends, release our students." The academics also marched to the Rector's Office and said, "Keep your hands off my student." They also chanted the slogan, "We don't want a homophobic rector."
Boğaziçi academics continue their protests today, holding out “159” signs which is the total number of people taken into custody yesterday. pic.twitter.com/C5jfXqftMO
— Resist Bogazici (@resistBU) February 2, 2021
CLICK - Boğaziçi University's LGBTI+ Studies Candidate Club closed by the appointed rector
What happened?Prof. Melih Bulu has been appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University in a Presidential Decree issued on January 1. The appointment of Bulu has 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 have been campaigning on social media under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee university president). 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 has 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. 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. About Melih BuluProf. Melih Bulu was appointed as the President of Haliç University on January 17, 2020. In office in this foundation university for less than a year, he has been appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University. He was a Dean and University President at the İstinye University from 2016 to 2019. Between the years of 2010 and 2016, he was the Head of the Business Management Department of İstanbul Şehir University's Business Management and Management Science Faculty. He was the General Coordinator of International Competitiveness Research Institute (URAK), an NGO working on economic competitiveness of cities and countries, from the year 2017 to 2019. Since 2011, he has been the Executive Board member of the İstanbul Electric-Electronic Machinery and Informatics Exporters R&D Market. In 2002, he founded the Sarıyer District Organization of the ruling AKP in İstanbul. In 2015, he was a candidate for nomination to run in the Parliamentary elections from the AKP in the first election district in İstanbul. He studied Industrial Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara in 1992. He did his MBA and PhD at Boğaziçi University's Department of Management. |
(DŞ/SD)
