Source: self made.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan handpicked the new rector of the Bosphorus University, one of the most prestigious in the country, on January 1. The students and teachers of the center protested against this attack on university autonomy and organized rallies of rejection. The disproportionate police response has sparked demonstrations in other parts of the country, in one of the first social movements against the Islamist and conservative AKP government since the Gezi Park protests in 2013.
Istanbul and Turkey’s main university cities have been the scene of intense demonstrations since January 2021. The origin of the protests lies in the unilateral appointment of the rector of the Bosphorus University by President Erdoğan earlier this year, which students and teachers have been perceived as an interference in university autonomy. However, what seemed like a local problem seems to be turning into a nationwide social movement. The disproportionate police and political response to the first demonstrations has led to rallies of solidarity on campuses in Turkey and some abroad. Some have resulted in riots and hundreds of university activists have been arrested by Turkish security forces.
The escalation of the protests is partly explained by the symbolic importance of the University of Boğaziçi, or the Bosphorus, in Istanbul, one of the most prestigious public universities in Turkey, with a tradition of public debate and freedom of expression. The best high school students compete each year for the few places that the center offers, especially to study engineering and social sciences …
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