The Dark Sides of Turkish Universities
By: Ahmet Abidin

KurdistanObserver.com
May 1 2005

Recently, there are some international research listed that top
500 universities in worldwide. Unfortunately, none of university or
academic institution in this list. Here is the point, do you think
is there any research in this country.

Forget about to research lets a look a little bit university system
in Turkey. The universities were never independent since the republic
estabilished. Particularly, the academic system totally controlled
by government, military and intelligence rules after 1971 and 1980’s.

How come, you can not choose your director, dean or president of
your faculty by democratic election system. The institute called
High Education Council (in Turkish YOK) is almost no different than
Hitler’s, Franco or Stalin’s universities. Let’s give an example.
There are three candidate for president of X universities. You are
the person got % 50 of votes. Second person got % 30 and the last
one %20. So, the president of Turkey (of course after his long talk
with military chief or intelligence) can decide third person can be
president of university by %20 of votes. You can not be president
because you are not favorite person.

I saw that every corner of universities or research institutes are
corrupted from bottom to top. There are only few people honest, not a
lot. Every president has a secretary dealt with financial situation.
They have a very strong skill how to financially feed themselves
while others sleeping or ignore. Nobody were able to ask them how
they spend people’s money or budget instead of research facilities.

I worked different fields or research when I was in Turkey. I felt
so lucky during my childhood because I am the son of very honest and
successful academic person. For example, when he was very honest
and responsible about to use of financial resources at faculty,
on contrary the others were ready to dishonest. These people were
always ready to use resources for any of their personal benefits.

Another spot is, if someone not liked by rulers at all there is always
scenario against her/him easy. He is the separatist (bolucu), friends
of Kurdish, Armenian, Religious or any other opposition which is not
approved by rulers. This is also tragedy of social science. There are
hundreds false research/ thesis done against the minorities. None of
them scientific or accepted.

In addition, many of truthful academic, lost their job, being tortured,
being prisoners, exiled or killed by the monarch under the name of
democratic university system. In summary, the universities are the
puppet of dinosaurs or corrupted senior which can not be accepted by
international academic authority.

I am far from my roots. I don’t know what really changed in the dark
side of universities.