The Dark Sides of Turkish Universities

By: Ahmet Abidin

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.