[Istanbul] — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is facing criticism for appointing several university rectors that didn’t win their respective elections.
Most contentiously, Erdoğan appointed Mahmut Ak rector of the prominent Istanbul University despite Ak’s winning only 908 votes compared to winner Raşit Tükel’s 1202.
Tükel and many of his colleagues and students have contested the appointment.
“The will of the faculty should determine who the rector is,” said Tükel, a psychiatry professor and advocate for independent higher education.
At smaller universities outside of Istanbul, Ramazan Taşaltın, who came in fifth place with 58 votes in elections at Harran University, was appointed over the winner Mehmet İriadam, who received 96 votes. At Uludağ University, Yusuf Ulcay, who received 265 votes, was selected over Kamil Dilek, who soundly defeated him. At Çanakkale March 18 University, Yücel Acer, who came in second with 180 votes versus 237 for Sedat Laçiner, was also installed as rector.
Since the appointments, there have been several student protests.
Tufan, who declined to give his last name for fear of repercussions, is a 26-year-old student at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Education who supports Tükel.
Tufan says Erdoğan, who often defends his actions by saying he was elected democratically, isn’t respecting the ballot in this case, instead choosing the loyal candidate over the faculty’s choice.
“Normally, Erdoğan says that he respects whatever result comes from the voting booth because he says what gives him his power is how many votes he gets, [but] what he gives more importance to is those who think like him,” Tufan says.
According to an associate professor at Istanbul University’s Medical Faculty, who asked for his name to be omitted due to being warned in the past over his outspoken views, Erdoğan appointed Ak because of his loyalty towards the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“He is very close to the government,” the professor says.
In contrast to Ak, the professor describes Tükel as “a liberal who stands up against the domination of universities, [which] made it 100 per cent certain that he would not be appointed.”
Neşe Özgen, a sociologist and education advocate, doubts Ak’s qualifications as a rector.
“We think he’s much more of a businessman than an academic,” she told The Media Line.
Following Turkey’s 1980 military coup, a Council of Higher Education (YÖK) was formed to supervise universities, which had becomes hotbeds of political violence. There are 21 board members, with one-third respectively chosen by the president, the cabinet, and an independent body called the Inter-University Council, whose powers the government is now trying to reduce.
In an election for rectors, permanent professors cast votes for six candidates. The YÖK board then chooses three of those candidates, ranking them in order of preference. Traditionally, the president then selects YÖK’s first choice, which is often not the winner of the faculty vote.
In the past, secular Kemalist-dominated YÖK was known for refusing to appoint openly pious Muslims as rectors. At that time, politicians currently aligned with AKP – Erdogan’s party — were highly critical of the institution, calling for its abolishment. Now, the party is silent on the issue and critics say this is because YÖK’s board is controlled by the AKP and chooses only loyal candidates.
Last year, a former head of YÖK, Gökhan Çetinsaya, called for the institution’s termination, saying it was outdated and interfered too much with Turkey’s higher education, including silencing outspoken academics. In November, Çetinsaya was removed from his position and replaced by the less outspoken Yekta Saraç.
“Effectively, over the last few years, all of the appointments have been in the interest of the government, so it can be considered a partisan organization,” says the medical faculty professor. “They seem to be quite happy to make use of YÖK as it is.”
Özgen is also highly critical of the YÖK system.
“The procedure doesn’t work in a proper way, neither in the past, nor now. The presidents always choose whoever they want,” she says. “It was not [democratic] and still isn’t.”
Tükel, a campaigner for educational independence, says they want scientific freedom and academic autonomy, but “the current system is directly opposed to these things,” and is hierarchical, centralized and authoritarian.
He also says freedom of speech on campuses is getting worse and worse, and self-censorship more common.
“There is serious pressure on faculty members. If you say something against the government, or against the direction of the universities, you’ll have non-stop pressure.”
In late 2013 and early 2014, laws were amended giving university administrations the ability to sanction political activities and limiting professors’ ability to talk to the media about political issues.
Public relations professor and columnist Osman Özsoy, was fired from both the Yeni Şafak newspaper and Haliç University last year after making comments critical of alleged government corruption.
Law professor Hayrettin Ökçesiz was fired from Aydın University after he filed a complaint with a public prosecutor’s office last August accusing Erdoğan of acting unconstitutionally and continuing a partisan role after being elected president, a non-partisan position.
Other have faced similar repercussions.