The current laws in Turkey only allow someone who has been teaching for three years as a professor to become a rector of a university. But what to do when a staunch government ally professor has only one year under his belt to show? No problem, the laws will be changed for 5 days while he is brought to lead the university, then changed back to the previous state. It is that simple.

Under a full-fledged attack from the government the higher education institutions are being changed in Turkey to become hierarchical government support centers. In the process, only those who swear their allegiance to the ruling AKP are being brought to lead these institutions. No other qualifications are necessary.

It wasn’t always like this. The academia had given a prestigious struggle to obtain its autonomy from political and government influence in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This allowed a true and honest academic environment where one’s academic qualifications became the only measure for advancement.   However, independent minded academicians and students were seen as a threat in the 1980’s where the students opposed the open fascism and open integration to imperialism in the land where any and all national treasure and wealth started to be sold to the highest bidder by the governments.

The threat of intelligentsia joining forces with a working-class movement to preserve the gained rights of the people against a brutal neo-liberal, pro-market, regime had to be eliminated by the governments who were very closely colluding with the USA and the EU on the path to become a haven for privatizations and imperialist “investments.” A so-called reform was implemented to make sure the higher education administrations toed the government line and kept opposition at bay.

However, even under this “reform”, the government kept some provisions that continued displaying the pretense of respectability by ensuring someone with at least three years of teaching experience as a professor to lead a higher education institution. As years passed and as government’s grip on all institutions tightened, even these fake displays proved ineffective for the government.

Resisting the entire government controlled academic charade, the honest faculty objected to this diversion from real education.  Yet, their demise came when hundreds of academicians signed an open letter opposing the human rights and civil rights violations of the government in Eastern Turkey.  Using this open letter as an excuse Erdoğan government, with a presidential decree, fired thousands of academicians and teachers in a cleansing operation from the universities and schools. The academicians were even barred from working ever again in the country. Even their passports were annulled preventing their leaving for overseas.

This emptying of schools from qualified professors put extra stress on the universities that had already fallen on hard times to recruit academicians to fulfill teaching positions. Turkish government started to hire charlatans and government stooges out from the streets and from the friends and family of the AKP party ranks. Corruption hit the roof as unqualified individuals started getting their doctorate degrees and becoming professors.

In this environment, it became even harder to find a government stooge that had 3 years of professorship experience to lead any institution. The qualifying merit still being loyal to the government, not the experience.

Using a presidential decree on July 9, 2018 the requirement for three years of experience was lifted to become a rector. Then on July 14, Nuri Aydın who had only one year of experience was appointed as the rector for the medical school Cerrahpaşa of the University of Istanbul. The very next day, the 3-year experience requirement was reinstated.

The new “rector” had only graduated from the medical school in 2001 and became an assistant professor (docent) in 2013 and became a professor in 2017. His appointment shows the level Turkey has descended in application of law and justice.

If it suits the needs of the government to appoint an unqualified ally and a loyalist, laws mean nothing and can be changed for 5 days for personal and political reasons. This is the state of affairs in Turkey today.

Turkish Source: Gazete Duvar, Translation: M.B.

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