RoundTable - Academic Freedom at BOĞAZİÇİ University Istanbul

Petition from students and academics from Bogazici University (Istanbul)

In a petition from academics and students from Istanbul university it is written:

”On January 1, 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used an emergency decree from 2016 (KHK 676) to appoint Professor Melih Bulu, a loyal member of the ruling party, rector of Boğaziçi University. Bulu is not a member of the Boğaziçi University faculty, which violates the established rules and practices of University governance.

This attempt by President Erdoğan to bring Boğaziçi University under his control has sparked widespread faculty and student protest.[2] The government's response has been brutal. Erdoğan has called the students "terrorists" and LGBTI+ students in particular have been singled out for harassment.We also want to recap important discussions from last year as well as planning events and discussions for 2021”

We will continue the round table discussion started on 9. Feb 2021. We will hear from people from Istanbul about the situation and discuss the petition (linked from our web-page)

Further reading:

1. The website for petition

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_m3StSsK4Zm8Rp54aBMey5fgrCnEfX6_cMV5knhIsjaTrBA/viewform

2. The statement from Turkish Science Academy 

https://en.bilimakademisi.org/the-science-academy-statement-on-the-appointment-of-a-new-president-to-bogazici-university/

https://en.bilimakademisi.org/addendum-on-developments-at-bogazici-university/

3.rticle in EuroScientist: in this article there also links to some newspaper articles

https://www.euroscientist.com/unrest-at-bogazici-university/

4. Deutsche Welle: latest news coverage in German

https://www.dw.com/de/studenten-der-universit%C3%A4t-bogazici-wehren-sich-gegen-einmischung-von-staatschef-erdogan/a-56512400

5. 5. Live coverage of protests at 10:00 hrs (CET) Mon-Fri by Bogazici University  TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G64pjX6aO_0

6. Magna Charta Observatory statement:

http://www.magna-charta.org/activities-and-projects/observations/observatory-urges-turkish-president-to-realise-benefits-of-autonomous-universities

7. Human Rights Organization news

Turkey: Student Protesters at Risk of Prosecution | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)