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Date published: 17 July 2021 08:47
Modified On: 18 July 2021 13:26

Boğaziçi University | Acting rector dismisses academic Can Candan

Appointed as the acting rector of Boğaziçi University following the dismissal of Melih Bulu, Naci İnci has dismissed academic Can Candan. İnci has also sent an email from the “Rectorate” account, announcing that he is a candidate for rectorship.

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Boğaziçi University | Acting rector dismisses academic Can Candan

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Prof. Naci İnci, who has recently been appointed as the acting rector of Boğaziçi University, has dismissed academic Can Candan by launching a disciplinary investigation against the academic.

After Melih Bulu, the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University, was dismissed by a Presidential decree on July 15 amid wide-scale protests, Naci İnci, who was the vice rector of Bulu, has been appointed as the acting rector of the university by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), which has also put an ad for applications to the rectorship of Boğaziçi University.

Shortly after his appointment as an acting rector, Naci İnci has sent Can Candan a letter, informing him about his dismissal.

CLICK - Boğaziçi University | Vice rector appointed as acting rector

Can Candan, a documentary filmmaker, academic and faculty advisor of the BULGBTI+ Student's Club, which was closed by the appointed rector, had been filming and documenting the protests of Boğaziçi University faculty against the appointment of Melih Bulu for over six months.

Can Candan has shared the letter of Naci İnci on Twitter, attaching the note, "Naci İnci sent me a letter today, indicating that he has dismissed me 'by proxy' from Boğaziçi University, where I have been working as a lecturer since 2007, without consulting the department and the faculty where I teach classes. I share it with you and I leave it to you to make a comment and evaluation on this. I, of course, do not accept and do not give up."

In the letter sent to Can Candan by Acting Rector Naci İnci, it is indicted that Candan was "appointed as a lecturer to Boğaziçi University on July 16, 2007 as per the Article 32 of the Law no. 2547 on Higher Education and his term time was not renewed in the following years."

The letter of the appointed acting rector has said that "no benefit is seen in Candan's continued stay in office on the grounds that his term time ended on July 15, 2021, he did not make any application to the university for reappointment and he could fulfill only six hours of the 12-hour teaching time a week foreseen by the Article 36/3 of the Law 2547 on Higher Education."

İnci has also referred to a disciplinary investigation launched against Can Candan by the decision no. 21366 given by the Rectorate of Boğaziçi University on July 10, 2021, accusing the academic of "insulting the superiors and University administrators with posts aiming to degrade and humiliate people and having the characteristics of attack on personal rights."

Referring to the above-mentioned reasons, in addition to the ongoing disciplinary investigation, İnci has informed Candan that he has been dismissed from Boğaziçi University as of July 16, 2021.

Candidacy announced from Rectorate account

Meanwhile, Naci İnci has also sent the academics of Boğaziçi University an email from the "Rectorate" account of the university and announced that he is officially a candidate for the rectorship of Boğaziçi University, listing his goals when he becomes the rector in the same email. 

On the same day (July 16), it was also announced by the Rectorate that the courses to be taught by academic-lawyer Feyzi Erçin were not approved.

CLICK - Appointed acting rector doesn't approve Feyzi Erçin's course, citing his tweet as a reason

'Can Candan is not alone'

After academic Can Candan announced his dismissal on Twitter, his fellow academics, students, Boğaziçi Solidarity and other constituencies have expressed their support and solidarity with Candan and protested appointed acting rector Naci İnci's action on social media under the hashtag #CanCandanYalnızDeğildir (Can Candan is not alone):

Boğaziçi Solidarity: "Since yesterday, we have been emphasizing that the dismissal of Melih Bulu is not a win. The dismissal of our professor Can Candan is a proof of this. We will leave none of our academics alone and we will continue struggling together!"

Boğaziçi Resistance: "We are all together. We will keep on being together! All trustees will leave. Can Candan is not alone."

Academic Gaye İlhan: "Can Candan is not alone. Of course, we do not accept and we do not give up on Can Candan."

Academic Cem Say: "Prof. Candan is 'guilty' of photographing our standing in front of the Rectorate everyday. We don't accept, we don't give up."

Academic Taylan Acar: "Can Candan is an academic and a person of arts who has devoted his life, time and labor to Boğaziçi University and to his students. It is extremely sad that he has been removed from the university on such crude grounds - and on top of that, with an acting position acquired for a post. We do not accept."

Academic Mert Arslanalp: "Here is the new action taken by Naci İnci, whose name has been circulating on the media today as a moderate candidate who could end the 'crisis' at Boğaziçi. He started sacking academics with academic Feyzi Erçin while he was the vice rector; he is now continuing with our professor Candan. Can Candan is not alone."

Academic Zeynep Gambetti: "Naci İnci will not be any different from Melih Bulu. He ended the classes of Feyzi Erçin two days ago; then, he both dismisses our professor Can Candan and launches a disciplinary investigation. All trustees will leave. We do not accept, we do not give up."

Academic-lawyer Feyzi Erçin: "Trustee Naci İnci; Fear Preys on the Soul... You are shaking at the seat you are sitting for an acting position on the very first day... My dear friend Can Candan, who has never left me alone, is not alone. Shameless Naci, who doesn't have an individual will and domineers by holding on the power he has leaned on, you are leaving..." 

About Can Candan

Documentary filmmaker, academic.

He has a BA from Hampshire College (USA) in film and video, and an MFA from Temple University (USA) in film and media arts. As a filmmaker since 1989, his works have been screened internationally at festivals, conferences, schools, universities, in galleries, cinemas, and on television. He has taught film courses and workshops, both in universities and media education centers in the United States and in Turkey. He is a founding member of docIstanbul Center for Documentary Studies, which organized the 2010 Visible Evidence International Documentary Studies Conference at Bogazici University in Istanbul.

During the academic year, he teaches on documentary history, theory and criticism; documentary cinema in Turkey and mentors film-related projects and theses. In 2016, he published (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK) an edited book entitled "Kurdish Documentary Cinema of Turkey" with Suncem Koçer (PhD) and has been collaborating with her on a new edited book entitled "Documentary Cultures in Turkey." He is also working on a new book (in Turkish) in collaboration with Sonay Ban (PhD), about the history of documentary cinema in Turkey.

He has three feature length documentary films in international distribution. He is also developing and fundraising for his new feature documentary film entitled "Nuclear alla Turca" on the nuclear stories of Turkey.

In 2005, he resigned as the chair of the film and television department of Istanbul Bilgi University after the university administration refused to take action on a sexual harassment case and he was subsequently fired. In 2012, he helped establish Boğaziçi University's Sexual Harassment Prevention Commission (CİTÖK).

In 2014, he resigned as the head of the jury of the national documentary film competition at the Antalya International Film Festival, Turkey, calling attention to the censorship scandal regarding a documentary about the Gezi Park Uprising.

In January 2016, he was one of the 2,212 signatories of the Academics for Peace declaration "We will not be a party to this crime", calling on the Government of Turkey to end the violence against the Kurdish population and resolve the conflict through peaceful means. Along with other signatories, he was accused of "propagandazigng for a terrorist organization" and tried in a heavy penal court under the anti-terror law, facing a minimum jail sentence of 15 months. Following the Constitutional Court's ruling in favor of freedom of expression in 2019, he was acquited of all charges.

He continues to actively advocate for peace, conflict-resolution, human rights, freedom of speech and expression as well as environmental protection.

He is the academic advisor of Boğaziçi University's LGBTI+ student club, which was closed following the appointment of a rector by a Presidential decree.

Recently, he has received The Turkish Film Critics Association's 2021 Honor Award.

*Source: Can Candan Academia account

(KÖ/SD)

dismissal can candan naci inci Boğaziçi University
https://bianet.org/haber/bogazici-university-acting-rector-dismisses-academic-can-candan-247378
2024-04-28 16:20:17