2021 Boğaziçi University protests

Melih Bulu, who has ties to the ruling AKP, was appointed as rector by presidential decree on 2 January 2021. According to faculty, Bulu was the first rector chosen outside the university since the 1980 coup d'état.[12] After the coup, Ergün Toğrol, who was an academician in Istanbul Technical University, had been appointed as the rector of Boğaziçi University.[13]

Hundreds began protesting on 4 January following the appointment, chanting slogans such as "Melih Bulu is not our rector" and "we don't want a plagiarist rector". In a shared statement, faculty regarded the appointment as a violation of "academic freedom and scientific autonomy, as well as the democratic values" of the Boğaziçi.[12][14]

One of the university's buildings was sealed off by students who were able to enter the campus. Later, protesters clashed with the police as they tried to break a barricade in front of the entry to the university, causing security forces to use pepper spray to disperse the demonstrators. Two students were detained in the course of protests.[12][15][16] By January 6, 36 students were in detention.[17] Protests by students and faculty outside the rector's office have continued into February,[18][19] with many other Turkish universities and Boğaziçi alumni associations abroad joining in protest against the appointment.[20]

As part of an art exhibition organized for the protest, an artwork on campus reportedly depicting the Kaaba alongside a LGBT flag and a figure of Shahmaran led to the arrest of four students, who were in the exhibition team.[21][22] Turkish Ministry of Interior Süleyman Soylu referred to the arrested students as "four LGBT perverts", causing Twitter to later restrict his tweet.[23] After this event, Boğaziçi University LGBTI Studies Club closed by order from Melih Bulu.[24] Bulu defended and claimed himself as a LGBT rights advocate.[25]

On 1 February, police blocked the gate of the south campus to prevent demonstration. Water cannons, barricades and at least one sniper were installed.[26][27] Later that night, police stormed the campus and detained 159 students.[28][29][30] Several protestors in İzmir and 69 in Ankara were also detained.[31][32][33] On February 2, Turkish police arrested and detained 104 near the University in Kadıköy, and responded to demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets.[34] Citizens of Istanbul banged pots and pans in many parts of the city to show their solidarity with the protest.[35] On 3 February, 50 people were detained in Izmir.[36]

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that "a routine appointment" was "being used to provoke the universities."[37] He also named protestors as "terorists" and denounced LGBT youth.[38][39] MHP chairman Devlet Bahçeli stated in his written statement that the rector was appointed by legal means and the issue was closed. Bahçeli added that the protesters should not "strain their chances" and "not get caught up in anarchist projects", describing the protests "a conspiracy that needs to be crushed."[40] Erdogan's Secretary of Interior Soylu stated that rector elections do not need to be democratic.[41][42]

The mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu from the left-wing main opposition party CHP, supported the protests.[43] Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the chairwoman of the CHP branch in İstanbul also spoke in solidarity with the protest and was named by Erdoğan "a terrorist of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front." This led to a criminal complaint against the president by Kaftancıoğlu.[44]

23 days after the nomination of Bulu, no academic from the university has agreed to assist Bulu as vice-rector.[45][46]