As I have written last week before my flight to Italy, there was an easiness on academics’ movement abroad and I had the opportunity to go abroad to meet with my sister and brother.
However, things are getting weird. Although we have not received a written statement about the issue, academics cannot use their annual leaves any more for an indefinite period. You may travel within Turkey but you are not supposed to go abroad for touristic purposes. You can get a permission to go abroad if you have an academic purpose. This is now left to university rectors but the rectors are too anxious to give permissions. Scholars are recommended to stay in Turkey. So far, there is not a written statement about that. As Turkey descends into arbitrary rule of law, we are subjected to a regime of orally transmitted regulations.
There are basically two types of universities: Public ones and Private ones (but in theory the latter cannot be for profit and they are regulated by “foundations”). However, all universities are regulated by Higher Education Council (YÖK). Since university entrance depends on nationwide exams that are conducted by YÖK and it is the YÖK that decides how many students a university have, and again it is the YÖK that determines the foundation of any BA, MA or PhD level program, all universities have to obey YÖK. YÖK was founded after the 1980 coup and current AKP leadership had always criticized this institution. However, when they got the power, YÖK became more powerful and it gradually increased its pressure over all universities.
Scholars at public universities are classified as civil servants and they have special passports (providing some visa comforts). Since the coup attempt on July 15, like all civil servants, a strict travel ban to go abroad is conducted on them.
However, scholars at private universities are classified as mere employees and they do have normal passports and they are not as restricted as the public university scholars. However, YÖK’s heavy hand is felt strongly. Ban on civil servants are extended to us, for those who have never benefited from special passports etc.
In the mean time, Turkish Airlines reimburse tickets for all civil servants but not for us. It received a notice from the Turkish State but that does not cover us. And as private university scholars, out tickets etc are all burned to our own expense.
In sum, we are now in a sort of open-air prison whose boundaries cover all Turkey. Better than nothing. Our all knowing leaders will decide when we will be free again…
In the mean time, some Turkish leaders accuse Western powers to be supportive of coup plotters, they look like blackmailing EU over the refugee issue and decides to close Telecommunication Communication Presidency (TIB). It may not be too surprising for my readers to learn that AKP has been in power for 14 years and all TIB leadership was appointed by the prime ministry…
All news mentioned in the last paragraph can be found below:
Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said he will not bow to “intimidation” from Turkey after receiving online death threats as tensions rise between the EU and Ankara, in comments published on Aug. 2
Europe must not let itself be blackmailed by Turkey in talks about visa-free travel for Turkish citizens, German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel says.
Turkey and the European Union have found themselves embroiled in a new row over the migrant and visa-free travel topics
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has strongly accused the West of supporting terrorism and coup plotters, expressing his resentment at the unsatisfying support from Turkey’s allies in the aftermath of the failed July 15 coup attempt
Dani Rodrik
Whenever I talk with another Turk about the Gulen movement, a question invariably props up: is the CIA behind Gulen? In fact for most Turks this is a rather rhetorical question, with an incontrovertible answer. The belief that Gulen and his activities are orchestrated by the U.S. is as strongly held as it is widespread among Turks of all political coloration – secular or Islamist.
Turkey’s former army chief, İlker Başbuğ, has commented on the July 15 failed coup attempt, saying the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also behind it
President Erdoğan has claimed that the West takes side with the coups and said, “this incident is a coup act whose actors are inside but whose script is written outside”.
warontherocks.com – William Armstrong – Jul 31, 8:50 PM
Turkey’s tortured relationship with the West seems to be reaching a crisis point. The botched coup attempt of July 15 and the reaction in the aftermath have exposed a widening emotional chasm between Ankara and its Western allies. A conviction is
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will not attend a rally organized by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commemorating the victims of the failed coup attempt of July 15
It isn’t the capability of recognizing a historical moment that differentiates the Turkish trajectory from the Egyptian, it is rather the historical moment itself and what it represents.
Turkey is planning to restructure its National Intelligence Service (MİT) after the failed July 15 coup attempt, amid criticisms against its shortcomings during the failed takeover
The man who was beaten by being exposed to the phrases such as “You will be punched if you don’t hold the flag”, “You have to hold the flag if we give it to you” turned out that he is not French but from Yozgat.
The BBC’s Selin Girit meets some of those women regarded as heroes for standing up to the attempted coup in Turkey.
Tens of thousands of people in Germany turn out in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a rally that raises diplomatic tensions.
The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff visits Ankara and condemns the recent coup attempt in Turkey, as the US seeks to shore up ties.
Related posts:
- Clear cut: “The End of Turkey in Europe”/ “New Turkey” deconstructed in Open Democracy series…
- Citizens in Cizre, Şırnak who have been under siege by Turkish military for days, share passwords for online communications
- “Turkey’s Descent Into Paranoia” as arrest warrant for Gülen issued.. #ÖzgürMedyayaKelepçe
- Erdoğan ‘closely following’ judicial process against Gülen movement, shows off with Putin and Qatar leaders…
- It is time, Turkish politicians head to Washington over worries about Armenian resolution…
Vía Erkan’s Field Diary http://ift.tt/2aGzHLq
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