Boğaziçi students briefly detained for protesting yet another controversial rector appointment

Duvar English

Istanbul police on Aug. 23 detained eight students of Boğaziçi University for protesting the appointment of Prof. Naci İnci as the new rector of the university, said the Boğaziçi Solidarity group.

The students held their demonstration in front of the Sarıyer district office of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

In their press statement, the students demanded a stop to the appointment of rectors to the university via presidential decrees. They highlighted that the move is a breach of the democratic process of the university's own election process.

“We know that the appointed trustee is not independent of the will of the political rulership. Because of this, Naci İnci is a pawn of the policy of oppression and suppression of the rulership which is trying to seize all institutions,” the students said in their statement.

“The issue is not just about Boğaziçi University, but the whole of the system which became more anti-democratic with the presidential system and which grants just one man the power to appoint heads to lead institutions,” they said.

The detained students were later released in the evening hours. 

Separately, Boğaziçi academics and students marched between the school's two campuses to protest İnci's appointment on Aug. 23, and released a joint statement to condemn İnci. 

İnci was vice-rector under former rector Melih Bulu, whose appointment has led to mass protests in the university as well as across the country for months.

Following the removal of Bulu from the post, İnci was named acting rector until the new appointment.

On Aug. 20, Erdoğan appointed İnci as the head of the prestigious institution despite the high disapproval rates he received on polls held among the community.