Solidarity with the Academic Community of Boğaziçi University

We, academics and researchers of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, express our dismay concerning the recent events of violation of academic autonomy at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, a public university with a long history of high-quality education, critical thinking, and defiance vis-a-vis political power.  

We join the protest of our colleagues against the decree that appointed a state-approved rector with links to the country’s conservative ruling party, against the will of the faculty and in violation of the university’s democratic practices. 

We support their ongoing struggle to uphold academic freedom and the autonomy and democratic self-rule of the university.  

We condemn the police violence deployed against peaceful university protests.  

We join the outrage from the student body and faculty members and declare: the struggle for democracy and academic freedom at Boğaziçi is our struggle.