In an environment in which remaining silent has become increasingly difficult, I felt the need to write something about Bosphorus University. While many people are speaking out, I’d like to frame this post around questions—so that readers can reflect and draw their own conclusions about what’s happening. In other words, I want to address this nonsense by asking questions and encouraging people to think critically. So, without further ado, here is my take regarding recent events at our university:
Questions Still Awaiting Answers
1) Harassment of faculty members:
Why have respected professors, who have devoted years to elevating Bosphorus University, been subjected to increasing harassment? We’re talking about a systematic campaign in recent years. I know that even professors with 30–40 years of service have had their campus access revoked, been removed from programs they founded and led, and even forced out of the university.
2) Excessive force against students:
Why are security forces treating our brightest students—who should be protected and celebrated—as threats? Even when they participate in peaceful protests, why are they immediately detained, subdued, and subjected to physical force?
3) Invitation to a symbol of religious extremism:
How did the university administration allow Nureddin Yıldız—a man who infamously said things like “a six-year-old can be married” and “women should be grateful that God allows men to beat them”—to be invited to Bosphorus by the Islamic Studies Club to give a speech? This is someone widely seen as a symbol of reactionary ideology. How can such a figure have any place at a university like Bosphorus, a stronghold of progressive and modern education?
4) Suppression of protest rights:
Do you approve of the harsh police response to students rightfully protesting this event, including the detention of a journalist who was simply observing and was handcuffed behind his back?
5) Hosting Survivor at Bosphorus:
How do you justify allowing the finale of Survivor—a show that dumbs down the public and fosters TV addiction—to be held at Bosphorus’s Anadoluhisarı campus, which should represent the intellectual elite of Turkey?
6) “Arabica” café at the Bebek Gate:
What is the purpose behind opening a shisha-bar-turned-café called “Arabica” right next to the Bebek Gate—one of the busiest and most visible parts of campus? Who is running this café, and under what conditions was this space leased?
7) Declining academic standards:
To maintain Bosphorus’s academic excellence, top professors must be retained. Instead, we’re seeing a trend where the university’s best academics are leaving, and their replacements are falling short of the previous standard. What steps is the administration taking to address these concerns?
8) Manipulation of student demographics:
Campus events have long included visits from various high schools—a great tradition. However, we’ve recently seen students coming mostly from low-performing schools. Bosphorus has long been home to some of Turkey’s best students. Is the administration trying to change the student profile by lowering admission standards and shelving this legacy?
9) Hitting rock bottom with Acun Ilıcalı:
Acun Ilıcalı—formerly associated with the controversial Adnan Oktar group and is now synonymous with shady capital—has already drawn widespread public criticism for promoting nonsense like “structure, structure” and for insulting Galatasaray, one of Turkey’s most esteemed institutions. This earned him the hatred of over 30 million Galatasaray fans. So why on Earth would a program produced by such a divisive and opportunistic figure be hosted at Bosphorus University—one of the most respected educational institutions in the country?
If you can answer these questions honestly and impartially, you’ll likely understand the core of the issues facing our university.
I sincerely hope that the negative trajectory that began in 2021 with the forced change in university leadership will come to an end soon, and that Bosphorus University will recover and rise to become one of the world’s top 20 universities.
The McGill Example and the Importance of Quality
Let me share the thinking behind my hope for Bosphorus’s future. Back when I was studying at McGill University, I considered coming to Bosphorus University for a year as an exchange student in my third year. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave the conditions in Canada—I was very happy in Montreal at the time. McGill is one of the top three universities in Canada and ranks among the top 20 globally. A school with such a strong reputation had chosen Bosphorus as its counterpart in Turkey, maintaining a long-standing exchange program partnership. That same level of quality and standards must be preserved.
The fate of a country is shaped by the quality of its people. The higher the percentage of well-educated, principled individuals, the better a country’s values, education system, legal framework, economy, and public safety. And to raise quality people, we need high-quality educational institutions now more than ever.
Note:
People ask me, “Why are you doing a master’s at your age?” And I always reply, “There’s no age limit for learning.” I mean, what could be more natural than someone who learned Spanish after 30 wanting to pursue academic studies on the commercialization of self-sufficient buildings and related technologies in a new chapter of their life?
I’m also revisiting my own theoretical foundation during this period. I’m happy with the decision I made. I’ll be completing the final semester of my three-term program at the end of this year. But naturally, as someone now studying at Bosphorus University, I’ve become much more sensitive to what’s happening on campus.
Tag: education
