Journalists express support for Boğaziçi: 'We don't bow down'

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kürtçesi

After ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed Prof. Melih Bulu as a new rector to Boğaziçi University, the students and academics have been protesting this appointment at their campuses and on social media platforms.

Amid these protests and statements of solidarity and support from both Turkey and abroad, 173 journalists have also released a joint statement titled "Boğaziçi students are not alone!" The statement will be open for other signatories until 23.59 p.m. on February 14.

"We don't bow down, we know that journalism is not a crime," the statement has read and briefly added the following:

'We remind you: It is a Constitutional right'

"We have an objection to the barricade set up between press members and the students who have been, for over a month, protesting the rector appointment which they consider to be done with antidemocratic methods.

"We remind you that this protest which the students of Boğaziçi University have been staging, saying 'We won't look down', is a Constitutional right.

"We do not accept the hate speech, otherization and discrimination targeting the identities and right to life of LGBTI+ students and the ensuing closure of the Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club.

"As journalists who are obliged to cover the incidents in an objective manner and fulfil a public duty, we reject the attempts of criminalizing the students who have been exercising their democratic rights and the academics who have been supporting them.

"Just as we object to censorship, pressure, threats and all types of obstacles standing in the way of people's right to obtain information, we are also against police violence targeting our colleagues who are trying to fulfil their duty. Journalists are not a side, they are witnesses; we reiterate that preventions, serious violence reaching the extent of injury and detentions targeting our colleagues who are doing their job is unacceptable.

"We will be the witnesses to this age and history will be its judge.

"In the face of those who are trying to distort the truth with power, we will always keep being the advocates of the truth.

"We don't bow down, we know that journalism is not a crime!"

The first signatories are as follows:

Ali Ergin Demirhan, Ali Haydar Çelebi, Ali Kemal Erdem, Alican Uludağ, Anıl Bayraktar, Anıl Mert Özsoy, Atakan Sönmez, Ayça Söylemez, Aylin Şener, Ayşe Banu Tuna, Ayşen Şahin, Ayşenur Önal, Azra Ceylan, Bahar Ünlü, Baran Furkan Gül, Barış Pehlivan, Barış Terkoğlu, Batuhan Avakado, Batuhan Batan, Bengisu Kömürcü, Bereket Kar, Berkant Gültekin, Bilal Çelik, Bilal Seçkin, Billur Aslan, Buse Söğütlü, Bülent Mumay, Bülent Yoldaş, Büşra Cebeci, Büşra İlaslan, Büşra Toprakyiğit, Can Bursalı, Cansu Pişkin, Cem Bahtiyar, Cüneyt Karabey, Çağla Üren, Çağlar Tekin, Çağrı Sarı, Çiğdem Akbayrak, Deniz Dallı, Deniz Işık, Derya Kap, Dilan Erdemir, Diren Çelik, Diren Deniz Sarı, Doğan Ergün, Doğan Koç, Duygu Köseoğlu, Ece Seçil Şahin, Elif Çetiner, Elif Ünal, Emrah Kolukısa, Emre Orman, Emre Özpeynirci, Engin Korkmaz, Erdal İmrek, Erdem Bolca, Erdoğan Alayumat, Erk Acarer, Ersan Kınık, Ertan Çıta, Esma Yılmaz, Esra Açıkgöz, Esra Üşüdür, Eylem Babayiğit, Eylem Nazlıer, Eylem Yılmaz, Ezo Özer, Fatih Karagülle, Fethullah Özmen, Giray Poyraz Ürey, Gizay Erden Çelik, Gökhan Kaya, Gözde Çağrı, Gözde Yel, Güliz Vural, Hacı Bişkin, Hakan Tosun, Halit Elçi, Hasan Hınıslı, Hatice Özkartal, Haydar Koçak, Hayri Tunç, Hemra Nida, Hüseyin Naval, İbrahim Varlı, İdris Sayılğan, İlker Güneş Doğan, İpek Özbey, İrem Afşin, İsmail Yeniçeri, İşhan Erdinç, İzel Sezer, Janet Huvaj, Kaan Kurtuluş, Kader Rüzgar, Kadir Güney, Kavel Alpaslan, Kazım Kızıl, Kerim Eren, Kübra Köklü, Leyla Özkaynak, Maaz İbrahimoğlu, Mehmet Efe Altay, Mehmet Emin Kurnaz, Mehmet Fırat Özgür, Mehmet Şafak Sarı, Melike Ceyhan, Melis Karaca, Meltem Akyol, Meriç Şenyüz, Mert Eskisındı, Mert Gümüş, Merve Bavra, Muhammet Doğru, Murat Bay, Murat Beyaz, Murat Büyükyılmaz, Murat Çokan, Mustafa Büyüksipahi, Mustafa Hoş, Mustafa Kömüş, Nagihan Yılkın, Nazlı Eda Piyade, Nebiye Arı, Neşe İdil, Nurcan Çalışkan, Nurcan Gökdemir, Onur Dalar, Onur Öncü, Onur Şahin, Orhan Koç, Orhan Şahin, Osman Çaklı, Ozan Buz, Ozan Yurtoğlu, Özge Türkoğlu, Özgür Büyüktaş, Özgür Deniz Kaya, Özlem Kara, Özlem Temena, Öznur Kaya, Pınar Gayıp, Rahşan Çelik, Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Sait Demir, Selda Manduz, Semra Kardeşoğlu, Seran Vreskala, Sercan Güler, Sercan Meriç, Serkan Ocak, Serpil Ünal, Sevda Erkılınç, Seyhan Avşar, Sezgin Kartal, Sibel Tekin, Songül Başkaya, Sultan Eylem Keleş, Sümeyra Kırca, Taylan Öztaş, Tilbe Akan, Timur Soykan, Tolga Balcı, Tolga Kaan Ateşli, Tugay Can, Tugay Candan, Tuğba Özer, Uğur Can Biçer, Uğur Koç, Uğur Şahin, Uğurcan Yıldız, Umut Yıldız, Ümit Kartal, Yadigar Aygün, Yağmur Kaya, Yağmur Tan, Yaprak Akbaba, Yasin Akgül, Zarife Çamalan, Zehra Özdilek, Zeynep Çelik, Zeynep Kuray, Zülal Koçer.

What happened?

Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University in a Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette on January 1, 2021. The appointment of Bulu 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 campaigned on social media under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee-rector). 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 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.

Taken into custody over a picture of the Kaaba, a sacred site in Islam, with a Shahmaran figure and four LGBTI+ flags on its corners, two students were arrested and two were placed under house arrest over this picture displayed at an exhibition as part of the protests at the South Campus.

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.

On February 2, Boğaziçi University students gathered in Kadıköy Rıhtım for another protest, which was attacked by the police with plastic bullets and tear gas. 134 people were taken into custody by the police. Two of the protesters were arrested by the court afterwards.

On February 6, four more people were arrested and two others were placed under house arrest over their participation in Boğaziçi protests in Kadıköy.

On the same day, Erdoğan issued a Presidential decree to open two new faculties at the university. In response to this, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform addressed an open letter to the "12th President of Turkey."

A day later, student Beyza Buldağ was taken into custody for allegedly administering the "Boğaziçi Solidarity" Twitter account and arrested for "provoking the public to hatred, enmity and hostility" and "provoking to commit crimes" over both the letter and other Twitter posts.

As of February 7, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform announced that at least 560 students were detained, 25 were sentenced to house arrest and 10 were arrested. Students have been arrested on charges of "degrading or provoking the public to hatred and hostility" and "resisting to prevent fulfilment of duty" as per the Articles 216 and 265 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

About Melih Bulu

Prof. 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.

(AÖ/SD)