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2021 Boğaziçi University protests

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2021 Boğaziçi University protests
Date4 January 2021 – present (3 years, 10 months and 3 weeks)
Location
Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey
Caused byAppointment of Melih Bulu as rector of Boğaziçi University
Goals
  • Resignation of Melih Bulu
  • Election of rectors by the university
  • Preservation of academic freedom and scientific autonomy
MethodsDemonstrations
Resulted inRemoval of Melih Bulu from his position by a decree from Erdoğan on 15 July 2021[1]
Parties
Lead figures

No centralized leadership

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey Melih Bulu[9]

Casualties
Arrested9[10]
Detained560[11]

The 2021 Boğaziçi University protests are demonstrations held against the appointment of Melih Bulu by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as rector of Boğaziçi University, one of the top academic institutions in Turkey.

Background

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On 2 January 2021, AKP founder and politician Melih Bulu was appointed as rector of the Boğaziçi University by presidential decree. According to faculty, this makes him the first rector to be chosen without involvement of the university since the 1980 coup d'état,[12] when Ergün Toğrol, an academician of Istanbul Technical University, had also been appointed as rector.[13]

Protests

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After the appointment hundreds of students began protesting on 4 January, chanting slogans such as "Melih Bulu is not our rector" and "we don't want a plagiarist rector".[12] In a shared statement, faculty regarded the appointment as a violation of "academic freedom and scientific autonomy, as well as the democratic values" of the Boğaziçi.[12][14]

Later that day, one of the university's buildings was sealed off by students who were able to enter the campus. Then, protesters clashed with the police as they tried to break a barricade in front of the entry to the university, ultimately resulting in security forces using pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators, with two students being detained during the course of the protests.[12][15][16] By 6 January, a total of 36 students were in detention.[17] Protests outside the rector's office continued into February at the hand of students and faculty,[18][19] whose demonstration was later supported by various other Turkish universities and international associations of Boğaziçi alumni opposing the appointment.[20]

An art exhibition was organized for the on-campus protest, during which four students involved in the exhibition were arrested[21] because of a piece of artwork reportedly depicting the Kaaba alongside an LGBT flag and a figure of Shahmaran.[22] In his Twitter account, Turkish Ministry of Interior Süleyman Soylu referred to the apprehended students as "four LGBT perverts", causing his tweet to be restricted later on.[23] After the protests, Bulu ordered the Boğaziçi University LGBT Studies Club to be closed,[24] a decision he claims had "no approach of targeting the LGBT identity", and which was made despite his assertion of being "a person who defends the rights and freedoms of LGBT individuals."[25]

On 1 February, police blocked the gate of the South Campus to prevent further demonstrations, deploying to that end both a water cannon and barricades.[26][27] Later that night, police stormed the campus and detained 159 students.[28][29][30] 69 protestors were also detained in Ankara, with an unspecified number more arrested in İzmir.[31][32][33] On 2 February, Turkish police arrested and detained another 104 protestors near a university in Kadıköy, and suppressed the demonstrators using tear gas and rubber bullets.[34] The citizens of Istanbul responded by banging pots and pans in many parts of the city to show their solidarity towards the protest.[35] On 3 February, 51 people were detained in Izmir when protests unleashed in front of the Alsancak Türkan Saylan Cultural Center.[36]

On 12 March, 12 students carrying rainbow during a demonstration flags were arrested.[37][38][39][40] Their release was demanded during a protest held by students on 26 March in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul. During this demonstration another 50 students were detained.[41][42][43] On 1 April, a demonstration took place in Kadıköy, where 35 students were detained and subsequently released that same night.[44]

The protests at the university are still ongoing, and its development has been commented on by several renowned Turkish figures, including composer Fazıl Say and writer Orhan Pamuk, in a joint statement declaring that the interventions "will destroy the democratic values of Boğaziçi University, resulting in diminished academic excellence that will lead to perhaps irreversible public damage."[45]

Reactions

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that "a routine appointment" was "being used to provoke the universities."[46] He also referred to protestors as "terrorists" and denounced the LGBT youth.[47][48] MHP chairman Devlet Bahçeli stated in a written statement that the rector was appointed by legal means and that the issue was closed to discussion. Bahçeli added that the protesters should not "strain their chances" and "not get caught up in anarchist projects", describing the protests as "a conspiracy that needs to be crushed."[49] Erdoğan's Secretary of Interior Soylu stated that rector elections do not need to be democratic.[50][51]

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, representing the center-left main opposition party CHP, supported the protests.[52] Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the chairwoman of the CHP branch in Istanbul, also spoke in solidarity towards the manifestations, prompting president Erdoğan to call her "a terrorist of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front." This led Kaftancıoğlu to file a criminal complaint against the president.[53]

After 23 days since the nomination of the new rector, no academic from the university had agreed to assist Bulu as vice-rector.[54][55] As of 1 February, professor Gürkan Kumbaroğlu and professor Mehmet Naci had been appointed as two of his assistants.[56] As of 24 March, professor Fazıl Önder Sönmez had been appointed as the last assistant to the rector.[57]

As of 6 February 2021, 2 new faculties have been opened by the Turkish Presidency.[58] Protestors have seen this move as establishing new staff solely to work with Bulu and give legitimacy to his position in the process.[59][60] In March 2021, around 70 teachers of the university filed a lawsuit to depose Bulu from office.[61][62] Meanwhile, Bulu appointed physicist Naci Inci, who also agreed on the vice-chancellor position, to be the leader of the social-scientific center of the university.[63] After six months of protest, Bulu was removed by another presidential decree.[64]

Analysis

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Baran Doğan of İleri Haber, a leftist website, states that, in order to overshadow the legitimacy of the protest, and since the government could not stop the protests through "oppression, violence and threats", they resorted to claim most of the demonstrators were not students but provocative terror groups.[65]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Karar: 2021/360" (PDF). Resmi Gazete (in Turkish). No. 31542. 15 July 2021. p. 21.
  2. ^ a b c "Yıldız Teknik, ODTÜ ve Galatasaray Üniversitesi öğrencilerinden 'Melih Bulu' tepkisi". 12 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Ankara Üniversitesi öğrencilerinden Boğaziçililere destek". 12 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Ankara'da Boğaziçi eylemine müdahale: 30 gözaltı". 12 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Bakanlığın onayladığı Beykoz'daki talan planına yurttaşlardan tepki: 'Derhal iptal edilsin'". 12 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Boğaziçi University academics protest Erdoğan's rector appointment as police flood campus". www.duvarenglish.com/. May 2021.
  7. ^ "ODTÜ'lü Akademisyenlerden Boğaziçi'ne Destek". www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/.
  8. ^ a b c "Boğaziçi protestolarına destek artıyor". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Boğaziçi'nde rektör protestosu". www.haberturk.com.
  10. ^ "Boğaziçi direnişi bilançosu: 560 gözaltı, 9 tutuklama" (in Turkish). Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Boğaziçi direnişi bilançosu: 560 gözaltı, 9 tutuklama" (in Turkish). Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d "Turkish police clash with students protesting Erdogan-appointed university head". Reuters. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  13. ^ "12 Eylül'den sonra ikinci". www.sozcu.com.tr. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'nde Melih Bulu protestosu: 'Kayyum istemiyoruz'". birgun.net (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  15. ^ Presse, AFP-Agence France. "Hundreds Protest In Istanbul Against New University Rector". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Students in Turkey Protest Rector Tapped to Head University". Archived from the original on 7 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Boğaziçi students in Kadıköy: 'Release our friends from detention'". bianet.org. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  18. ^ English, Duvar (21 January 2021). "Boğaziçi University students hold Pride March on third week of protests against Erdoğan's rector". Duvar English. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  19. ^ Gall, Carlotta (1 February 2021). "Prestigious Istanbul University Fights Erdogan's Reach". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  20. ^ "Boğaziçi University starts resistance against government-appointed trustee rector '". Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  21. ^ "TARGETED BY RECTOR, STATE OFFICIALS: Two Boğaziçi University students arrested, two placed under house arrest". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  22. ^ "Campus Guards intervene with Boğaziçi University Resistance Exhibition". dokuz8HABER (in Turkish). 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Twitter'dan Süleyman Soylu'nun nefret söylemi içeren tweetlerine kısıtlama". birgun.net (in Turkish). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. ^ "ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Boğaziçi University's LGBTI+ Studies Club closed by the appointed rector". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  25. ^ LGBTI+, Kaos GL-News Portal for. "Bulu after shutting down the LGBTI+ Club: "I'm an LGBT rights advocate"". Kaos GL - News Portal for LGBTI+. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  26. ^ "Çok sayıda Boğaziçi Üniversitesi öğrencisi gözaltına alındı!". Jurnal Türkiye (in Turkish). 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  27. ^ "Boğaziçi'nde yeni gözaltılar". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 2 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  28. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'ndeki gösterilerde 159 kişi gözaltına alındı". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  29. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Güney Kampüs'e polis girdi, öğrencilere müdahale etti". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'ne polis girdi, rektör Bulu'yu protesto eden onlarca öğrenci gözaltına alındı!". T24 (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  31. ^ "İzmir'de Boğaziçili öğrencilere destek eylemine polis müdahalesi; gözaltılar var". T24 (in Turkish). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  32. ^ "Boğaziçi eylemlerinde gözaltı sayısı 228'e yükseldi: Öğrencilerin bir bölümü adliyeye sevk edildi". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  33. ^ "Ankara'da Boğaziçi Üniversitesi ile dayanışma eylemine polis müdahalesi: Çok sayıda gözaltı var". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Kadıköy'de biber gazlı, plastik mermili müdahale!". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  35. ^ "Istanbul: Festnahmen bei Studenten-Protesten". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  36. ^ "İzmir'de çok sert müdahale: 51 kişi gözaltına alındı". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  37. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'nde gökkuşağı bayrağı taşıyan öğrenciler gözaltına alındı".
  38. ^ "Polis, Boğaziçi kapısında: Çok sayıda gözaltı var" (in Turkish). 25 March 2021.
  39. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'nde öğrencilere polis saldırısı: En az 12 gözaltı! - HABERLER Son Dakika". 20 July 2020.
  40. ^ "BOĞAZİÇİ ÜNİVERSİTESİ'NDE 12 KİŞİ GÖZALTINA ALINDI - Son Dakika" (in Turkish). 25 March 2021.
  41. ^ "Over 40 Boğaziçi students detained for protesting former pride flag detentions".
  42. ^ "Gözaltına alınan arkadaşlarına destek veren Boğaziçi öğrencileri gözaltına alındı!".
  43. ^ "Turkey detains 50 more people after university protests", Reuters (in German), 26 March 2021, retrieved 27 March 2021
  44. ^ "BOĞAZİÇİ PROTESTS: Detained in İstanbul's Kadıköy, students released". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  45. ^ "Boğaziçi honorary doctorate recipients express concern over developments at the university - english".
  46. ^ "Boğaziçi protestoları: Erdoğan, Soylu ve Kaftancıoğlu, gösteriler ve suçlamalar için ne dedi?". BBC Turkish Service (in Turkish). Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  47. ^ "Erdogan slams LGBT, students after protests". France 24. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  48. ^ "Turkey's Erdogan denounces LGBT youth as police arrest students". BBC News. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  49. ^ "Bahçeli, Boğaziçi eylemlerini hedef aldı: Başı ezilmesi gereken bir komplo!". BirGün (in Turkish). Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  50. ^ "İçişleri Bakanı Süleyman Soylu canlı yayında soruları yanıtladı". Konhaber (in Turkish). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  51. ^ "Soylu konuşuyor: Rektör seçimlerinin illa çok demokratik mi olması gerekiyor?". İleri Haber (in Turkish). 20 July 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  52. ^ "Ekrem İmamoğlu'ndan Boğaziçi Üniversitesi öğrencilerine destek". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  53. ^ "Erdogan zu den Uni-Demos: "Dahinter stecken Terroristen"". nex24 (in German). 8 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  54. ^ Gazetesi, Evrensel. "Boğaziçi'nde akademisyenler Melih Bulu'nun yardımcılığını yapmayı kabul etmiyor". Evrensel.net (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  55. ^ "AKP'li Melih Bulu'nun atanmasından sonra kimse rektör yardımcılığı görevini kabul etmedi". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 22 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  56. ^ Şafak, Yeni (8 February 2021). "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'ne yeni rektör yardımcıları". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  57. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Rektörü Melih Bulu son yardımcısını da buldu!". Milli Gazete (in Turkish). 24 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  58. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'nde iki yeni fakülte kuruldu | DW | 06.02.2021". DW.COM (in Turkish). Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  59. ^ "New faculties in Boğaziçi aimed at 'creating staff to work with new rector'". Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  60. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'ne iki yeni fakülte kurulmasıyla ilgili kim, ne dedi?". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  61. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). "Boğaziçili akademisyenlerden Danıştay'a "Rektör atama" davası | DW | 01.03.2021". Deutsche Welle (in Turkish).
  62. ^ "Boğaziçili akademisyenler, Melih Bulu'nun atamasının iptali için Danıştay'a başvurdu".
  63. ^ "Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Atatürk Enstitüsü öğrencileri, Melih Bulu tarafından yapılan atamaya tepki gösterdi" (in Turkish). 3 February 2021.
  64. ^ English, Duvar (15 July 2021). "After six months of protests, Erdoğan sacks Boğaziçi University's appointed rector". www.duvarenglish.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  65. ^ "Baran Doğan yazdı | Boğaziçi direnişini kazanmanın yolu". İleri Haber. 20 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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