BY JOAN W. SCOTT
Our colleagues at Bogacizi University in Istanbul, Turkey, have asked us for support. Below are a letter from Professor Zeynep Gambetti asking for support and a letter that is now circulating to indicate international support.
Appeal from Bogazici University
Subject: Bogazici University under attack since Jan. 1
Dear friends and colleagues,
I would have liked to begin by wishing you the best for the new year, but it seems we’ll have to put up with all sorts of adversities right from the start.
As you might already know, Tayyip Erdogan passed a midnight decree on Jan. 1 that appointed a president to Bogazici University against the will of the faculty and in violation of the university’s democratic practices. What happened to Bogazici is a continuation of the pressure already exercised on the quasi-totality of universities in the country. If Bogazici was untouched until now, it was its prestige and international networks that played a dissuasive role. This government has no respect for science, critical thought, freedom of expression or research. The appointment of Melih Bulu, an academic hitherto non-affiliated with Bogazici, is an unmistakably political nomination. Like 20 other university presidents in Turkey, Bulu is an active member of the AKP, the ruling party.
Students protesting on Monday against the nomination were brutalized with tear gas and rubber bullets by police who literally handcuffed the university gates and arrested 22 students in morning raids a day later. The students, among them LGBTTQ+ individuals, were strip searched, subjected to ill treatment and were kept under custody until late Thursday evening. Other students were taken under custody in Ankara for organizing protests in support of Bogazici.
The Bogazici university Senate, the Executive Board and faculty members openly reject the nomination, declaring that they will uphold the autonomy of the university. This is not a simple matter, since shortly after the 2016 failed coup, when the government was criminalizing academics en masse, Bogazici faltered in standing up to its principles. Back then, the majority of faculty members accepted a move by Erdogan to disregard the outcome of the presidential elections held within the institution and appoint the winning candidate’s deputy instead. I’ll spare you the details. Today, lessons learned from this compromise have pushed the university, together with its faculty, students and progressive unions, to categorically reject Mr. Bulu’s nomination.
I’m writing to you in the hope that you would be willing to provide support for our ongoing struggle. This is not only a struggle for Bogazici. Since Jan. 1, Bogazici has become the number one political agenda in Turkey, a sign that the university has much symbolic value. It is one of the best universities in the country in terms of competitiveness, high quality education, critical thinking, a long history of autonomy and defiance vis-a-vis political power. Even though it is a public university dependent on public funds, Bogazici was the first to improvise elections as the only legitimate means to choose the university president in 1992 and has set the example for other universities in the country. It was the last to be attacked by the ruling party in a series of assaults against higher education since 2016. Whether or not the whole university system in Turkey will resist the AKP government or fall might depend on the outcome of the struggle at Bogazici.
Organizing a petition among academics abroad or issuing institutional statements would be of great help, since the government is on the defensive right now. My wager is that they weren’t expecting this much support for Bogazici. It goes without saying that I’ll be more than happy to provide more information if you consider this cause worthy of attention.
Attached are links that better explain where we stand now.
With that, I wish you a healthy and sane year of solidarity and hope!
Zeynep Gambetti
Letter to Sign
Friends and Colleagues,
Together with colleagues in exile, we’ve drafted an open letter of support for the students and faculty at Boğaziçi University. As many of you know, we’ve circulated similar letters in the past and they always get media coverage in Turkey and sometimes beyond. They also boost the morale of our friends and colleagues involved in this struggle.
Here is a link to our letter: shorturl.at/fzPUV
If you would like to sign, you can scroll to the bottom for the signatures field (note that your signature will not immediately appear), or you can reply to this email letting me know that I should add your signature.
Thanks for your support,
Chad
Chad Kautzer
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Guest blogger Joan W. Scott is professor emerita in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study and a member of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure.
