Academics want Turkey’s next president to axe a military-era council that has the power to hire and fire professors: (1/5)
In March, the Brussels-based European University Association placed Turkey atof 35 European higher education systems for autonomy and academic freedom. “The involvement of public authorities in university governance is extensive and stands out as an exception in Europe, Türkiye being the sole case where the rector’s selection is not in the hands of universities themselves,” the report states.
Applications to work at Sabanciı University from researchers at universities outside Turkey declined sharply after the coup attempt, says Atılgan. “They want us to do research, but it cannot be independent of free thinking,” adds Atılgan, who is also president of the Science Academy, a scientists’ non-governmental organization, and one of the report’s co-authors. She fears that unless universities win greater autonomy, younger generations will see no future in Turkey.
But researchers question if this will stop government interference. If the AKP wins, “we will do our best to pass all these findings [of the report] to them and to convince them that this is for the sake of the country, to make Turkey a better country, with more universities internationally recognized within the top 100”, says Özgüven. But “we don't know whether they will do it or not”, he adds.
This year, Turkey is marking the 100th anniversary of the formation of the modern republic. “We cannot go into the new century of the republic like this; the next 100 years cannot be like this,” says“The job of YÖK is simply to do a coordinating job, but they do much more than that, they use it as a punishing stick,” says Bilgiç.approached both Turkey’s science council, TÜBITAK, and YÖK. The science council was unable to arrange interviews before this article went to press.
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