Boğaziçi academics file criminal complaint against Erdoğan's appointed administration

Academics of Boğaziçi University have filed a criminal complaint against the administration that President Erdoğan appointed in January. Appointed rector Melih Bulu was removed from his post on July 15 after six months of protests.

Sunday July 25 2021 12:08 pm

This collage photo shows Boğaziçi's new acting rector Prof. Naci İnci (L), protesting academics (C) and dismissed rector Prof. Melih Bulu.

Duvar English

Academics of Istanbul's Boğaziçi University on July 16 filed a criminal complaint against the officials assigned by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the prestigious higher education institution.

The president's assignment of party member Prof. Melih Bulu as rector of Boğaziçi University caused months-long protests by the school's community, ultimately leading to Bulu's removal from his seat by Erdoğan himself on July 15.

Bulu was the first subject of the academics' criminal complaints, accompanied by his assistant and replacement Prof. Naci İnci, vice-rectors Prof. Dr. Fazıl Önder Sönmez, Prof. Dr. Gürkan Kumbaroğlu, and Higher Education Institution (YÖK) chair Prof. Yekta Saraç.

The academics said that the assigned officials "abused public duties for their personal benefit" and "acted against their duties' requirements at the cost of public detriment."

The assigned university administration's actions were geared toward taking over the university senate and the university's executive board, the academics said in their criminal complaint.

Hundreds of students were brutalized by law enforcement and detained during Bulu's six months in office.

Bulu's replacement, provisional rector Naci İnci dismissed iconic Boğaziçi educator Can Candan from his post almost immediately after coming to his position, prompting outrage among the university's community.