The display of loyalty of the rectors to the government seems to have picked speed with the latest attempt to turn Turkey into a one-man dictatorship. A referendum initiated by Erdoğan in a very controlled and manipulated, undemocratic environment is underway as of February 2017. The referendum is scheduled to take place on April 16 of this year.

One of the first things both the military regimes and the AKP government have done from the beginning was to take control over the universities.  In their efforts to subdue the higher education the first thing they did was to destroy the independence of universities from the government.  Through this, the government was able to appoint the rectors as opposed to the faculty electing them previously.

This resulted in the complete capitulation of universities and colleges to the government. In order to be appointed or to keep their jobs, unqualified charlatans lined up at the door of the dictatorial Erdoğan’s clerks. Those who promised the most blind loyalty were hand picked by bureaucrats to head universities.

The display of loyalty of the rectors to the government seems to have picked speed with the latest attempt to turn Turkey into a one-man dictatorship. A referendum initiated by Erdoğan in a very controlled and manipulated, undemocratic environment is underway as of February 2017. The referendum is scheduled to take place on April 16 of this year.

While those who are trying to seal contracts from the government, those who are looking for favors, jobs, appointments and handouts have come out publicly to endorse the president in his quest to collect all power in his own hands, those who oppose have been under government and police attacks.

Any attempt to call for a “no” vote has been suppressed by the government.  Any rally opposing Erdoğan is attacked by the police with its participants arrested and beaten without even a given reason.  Even some journalists who voiced their opposition to a one-man dictatorship have been fired from their jobs immediately to please the government.

While all dissent is brutally suppressed, those in favor of giving the entire decision making, bypassing the parliament, destroying whatever is left of any remnants of a democracy are allowed and encouraged with state funds to voice their propaganda.

A campaign of videos where government supporters call for a “yes” vote and ask their friend if they too will join to support the government is making its rounds in Facebook, twitter and you tube.  Most of these video calls are made on phone videos and obviously are by those who exhibit not having an education above middle school and has become a source of fun for those who oppose dictatorship.

Joining this government supported video campaign were some right-wing, Islamic students who are trying to get Erdoğan’s message out.  However this propaganda efforts went a step further.  The students called for the rectors, the appointed clerks of AKP government, to join in the propaganda campaign to renew their government loyalty.

Not surprisingly, rectors who face losing their positions if they did not comply, have joined in the campaign, no matter how embarrassing it may be.  Otherwise, how is a person to keep his job under Erdoğan’s rule?

The rector of Adnan Menderes University Cavit Bircan said, “I say this everywhere I go. A presidential system will open the way for Turkey.  There is a need to open the way for Turkey.  We are talking about a country where we are frustrated by processes.  We need a relief.  We must make things happen faster to help make decisions faster.  For this reason, we are supporting this initiative until the very end.  We are also calling all the other rectors to join us.  I received a call from the social media, and I passed this along to other teachers here.  This is my personal view.”

It is important to remember that since the independence of universities was annulled the “teachers” are considered to be just clerks under an order-command rule and have to toe the line of the rectors, instead of being free thinking scientists.

In a published video, Mardin Artuklu University rector Ahmet Ağırakça accepts the call from Cavit Bircan and returns the favor, “My brother Professor Dr. Cavit Bircan, the rector of Adnan Menderes University, I received your call.  I too am saying ‘yes’ to make Turkey great again.  I am also passing this call to my brother Professor Dr. Talip Gül, the rector of Diyarbakir Dicle University.  Are you in this as well?”

Joining the foray the rector of the Duzce University, Nigar Demircan also made and shared a personal video calling all to support the government that appointed him, “Highly valued student council, I am, of course, calling for a stronger, greater Turkey by saying ‘yes.’  I am in this too.”

Many universities have a one-man dictatorship as the rule.  Since the government is opening “universities” right and left with no staff or teachers, the appointed rectors are the de-facto head of every department, faculty and division.  For example, Pamukkale University professor Hüseyin Bağ, a government appointed clerk acting as the rector of that university, is also personally the head of 16 faculties, 3 higher education schools and 2 institutions, getting paid accordingly.  It is not surprising that he too joined the campaign to say “yes” to the government that appointed him with another embarrassing video.

Sendika.Org