Former and current Boğaziçi professors discussed the state of higher education and academic freedom in Turkey by reflecting on the past of Boğaziçi University and analyzing the recent events that had been unfolding since the appointment of a new university president on January 1 and the establishment of two new colleges on February 5, both by unilateral midnight decrees issued by President Erdoğan without any consultation.
Our panelists, in alphabetical order of their last names are:
Mert Arslanalp (Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University)
Zeynep Atay (Professor of Chemistry, Boğaziçi University)
Mine Eder (Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University)
Edhem Eldem (Professor of History, Boğaziçi University)
Üstün Ergüder (President Emeritus, Boğaziçi University; Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University and Sabancı University)
Ersin Kalaycıoğlu (Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University and Sabancı University)
Kemal Kirişci (Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University)
Binnaz Toprak (Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University and Bahçeşehir University; Member of Parliament, 2011-15)
We are grateful to the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), both for its co-sponsorship of this event and for the attention its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) pays to Turkey.