Scholars at Risk raises alarm over university’s autonomy

In an open letter to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Council of Higher Education (YÖK) head Professor Erol Özvar and Bogazici University’s appointed rector Naci Inci, Scholars at Risk has called for “immediate steps to safeguard academic freedom and institutional autonomy”, reports Bia News Desk.

Penned by Robert Quinn, the executive director of Scholars at Risk, the international network protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom, the letter urges the authorities in Turkey to “restore academic freedom and autonomy at Bogazici University”.

The call by Scholars at Risk came some two weeks after three deans were removed from office by the appointed rectorate upon the decision of the YÖK. The open letter reads as follows: “I write on behalf of Scholars at Risk (SAR) to express our deep concerns over a year-long pattern of escalating violations of academic freedom and institutional autonomy at Bogazici University – one of Turkey’s most prestigious universities – marked most recently by the arbitrary dismissals of three faculty members from their deanships.
Full report on the Bianet site