"We don't want a trustee university president"
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President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the opening ceremony of Diyarbakır-Ergani-Elazığ Road Devegeçidi Bridge and Link Roads on January 9.
In his speech, Erdoğan once again targeted the students who have been protesting against the appointment of Prof. Melih Bulu, a former candidate for nomination from the AKP in the general elections in 2015, as the new president of Boğaziçi University from outside its community.
Addressing the issue on Friday as well (January 8), President Erdoğan said, "Unfortunately, there are terrorists involved in this business and those who don't have any relation with being a student."
While the students of the university have responded to these remarks by making brief videos, Erdoğan said on Saturday, "We have seen this film hundreds of times in 18 years. We have seen the actors of this dirty scenario buttressing the impositions of the tutelage."
'We saw it in Gezi as well'
According to Erdoğan, "a routine appointment was used as an opportunity to stir up universities" in Turkey. He claimed that "such protests where people with links to the terrorist organization were at the very forefront had nothing to do with seeking rights or freedom of expression."
"We have seen this film hundreds of times in 18 years. We have seen the actors of this dirty scenario buttressing the impositions of the tutelage. "We saw it while calls were made for a coup in Republic rallies. We saw it while the heart-wrenching murders were abused." said Erdoğan further.
He also referred back to Gezi in 2013, in the context of the allegations that the protesters, back then, entered a mosque in Beşiktaş with beer cans: "We saw it while they were plundering the property of shop owners during Gezi incidents. We saw it when they occupied Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque and how they acted like occupiers with bear cans there."
'October 6-8, December 17-25...'
Further in his speech, Erdoğan also drew a parallel between the protests against the appointment and the Kobani incidents of October 6-8, 2014 as well as the incidents associated with the "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)," which is held accountable for the coup attempt in 2016.
"We saw it while they were supporting the separatist terrorist organizations," argued Erdoğan and added, "We saw it while they were applauding the murderers while our people were being massacred on the streets during October 6-8 incidents. We saw it while they were speaking out for the FETÖ during the December 17-25 security-judiciary coup attempt."
Students have responded in a video
On the other side, the students of Boğaziçi University have responded to these accusations and claims in a video.
Consisting of short videos of students, the video has been shared on social media with the title "I am declared a terrorist because..."
Some of the students' answers are as follows:
"I am declared a terrorist because I wanted freedom in my university.
"I am declared a terrorist because I wanted the 150-year culture of my institution to be respected.
"I am declared a terrorist because I defend multivocality, not univocality.
"I am declared a terrorist because I used my legitimit right of protest without overstepping the constitutional boundaries.
"I am declared a terrorist because I want an elected university president, not an appointed university president.
"I am declared a terrorist because I wanted to protect the autonomy of my university.
"I am declared a terrorist because I think differently than the political power holders."
"Terörist ilan edildim çünkü..." #BoğaziciSecimİstiyor #KabulEtmiyoruzVazgecmiyoruz pic.twitter.com/sSQ9ecxNrh
— pols302 (@pols302) January 8, 2021
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. 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. |
(RT/SD)
