Boğaziçi rector holds ribbon-cutting ceremony for project that started before his appointment

Photo: Boğaziçi University

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Boğaziçi University's appointed rector Prof. Melih Bulu and his deputies attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Construction Laboratory Building on the campus.

An article on the university's website says that the building will be "the largest and most modern construction laboratory" in the country and when it's completed by the end of this year.

However, academics from the university said the project was planned, licensed and started last year.

"The construction in question is a construction that was designed with the contributions of the Civil Engineering faculty members of our university as part of earthquake retrofitting works in our campuses," the academics said in a statement.

The previous rector, Prof. Mehmed Özkan, informed the academic staff about the project at a meeting in December 2020 and mentioned it in his farewell article on January 5, said the academics.

Bulu was appointed as the rector of the university by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the start of the year. Academics, students and alumni of the university have been protesting the appointment since then.

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(DŞ/VK)