Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel on Feb. 19 joined academics at Boğaziçi University who have been holding a long-running vigil criticizing the appointment process of university rectors.
Özel was welcomed by students at the university entrance. On the 1,262nd day of the vigil, he stood alongside academics as they turned their backs toward the rector’s building — a symbolic protest — while holding a banner reading, “Autonomous, free, democratic university.”
He later attended a student-organized forum and answered questions, images shared on social media showed.
Özel’s visit came roughly one month after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the campus. The CHP criticized that trip, alleging that some in-person classes were canceled, dormitories were vacated and students from other universities were brought to the campus.
A group of Boğaziçi academics has maintained the daily weekday vigil since the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector in early 2021, a move that also sparked months of student-led protests.
Bulu was dismissed about seven months later through a presidential decree. Mehmet Naci İnci was subsequently appointed acting rector of the university.
Rector elections in Türkiye were abolished in 2016 under an emergency decree issued by the Council of Ministers. Under the current system, rector candidates are selected by members of the Council of Higher Education rather than through internal university elections.
Founded in the 19th century as Robert College, Boğaziçi University is widely regarded as one of Türkiye's leading public universities and is known for producing prominent political figures, business leaders, filmmakers and authors.
