THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 184, September 26, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DISSIDENT WATCH: YUCEL ASKIN
By Dr. Michael Rubin
YUCEL ASKIN: TURKISH DISSIDENT WHO HAS BEEN IN THE EYE OF THE STORM CENTERING ON ISLAMIST
ENCROACHMENT ON TURKEY'S SECULAR UNIVERSITIES -- DEFENDING CONSTITUTIONALISM, THE RULE OF LAW, & THE
SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT & RELIGION -- RESISTING EFFORTS OF PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN & HIS
RULING JUSTICE & DEVELOPMENT PARTY TO WEAKEN TURKEY'S SECULAR FOUNDATIONS & DESTROY THE INDEPENDENCE
OF THE COUNTRY'S EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS -- DEFENDING THE TURKISH REPUBLIC AGAINST THE FORCES OF
POLITICAL ISLAM
FULL STORY:
On October 14, 2005, police in the eastern Turkish city of Van arrested Yücel Askin, the Rector of Yüzüncü Yil University, on
charges stemming from alleged corruption involving the purchase of medical equipment. In an effort to humiliate the Rector,
the police allowed local television to film Askin's arrest and denied him bail. Few outside observers accepted the charges,
and, within days, university presidents across Turkey were rallying in Van for the freedom of their colleague. [1]
Askin has been in the eye of a storm centering on Islamist encroachment in Turkish universities. As Yüzüncü Yil Rector, he
defied pressure from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has sought
to break down the barriers between mosque and state in Turkey. Askin defended secularism, questioned the qualifications
of those with exclusively religious educations to gain admittance to secular universities, and enforced the headscarf ban.
These charges were not the first leveled against Askin. Police raided his home in July, 2005, in search of illicit antiquities and
arrested him on charges of violating the law on protection of cultural assets. [2] A judge later dropped the charges when it
emerged that Askin held government licenses for every artifact in his possession. [3] The corruption charges appeared just
as spurious. The University purchased the medical equipment a year before Askin became rector. [4] It would be difficult for
the Rector to corrupt a decision of which he was not part.
Still, the government is determined to press the case, not only against Askin, but also against his senior administrative
colleagues. On November 13, 2005, University General Secretary Enver Arpali committed suicide after being held for months
without trial. Askin's trial has yet to be scheduled. [5]
The Turkey Higher Education Board (YÖK) has condemned the situation. Soon after Askin's arrest, it released a statement
indicating that "defending the Rector amounted to defending the Republic." [6] Prime Minister Erdogan responded by
warning the rectors to "mind their own business." [7] While the court replaced one judge after determining he was biased in
favor of the AKP, [8] YÖK Chairman Erdogan Teziç's comments that "politicization of the judiciary poses a serious threat to
our country," [9] drew an angry response from the government prosecutors, who announced a new investigation into the
YÖK for illegal criticism. [10]
The rule of law has suffered under the AKP as the party implements its agenda to weaken Turkey's secular foundations.
Erdogan has launched an all-out assault on institutions and independent panels. On March 1, 2006, over the objections of
the President, the AKP-dominated Parliament passed a bill to found fifteen new universities. Rather than bolster education,
the move will better enable Erdogan to control it. Fifteen new university rectors drawn from a field of the Prime Minister's
candidates means fifteen new votes on the Higher Education Council, enabling the Prime Minister to undercut the YÖK's
anti-Islamist consensus. [11]
At an AKP meeting on February 14, 2006, Erdogan complained about continued bans on teachers wearing headscarves and
called on the judiciary to change its mindset. [12] If constitutionalism and the rule of law are to be preserved in Turkey,
though, it is the Prime Minister who must change his mindset.
NOTES:
[1] Sabah (Istanbul), Oct. 23, 2005.
[2] Milliyet (Istanbul), July 17, 2005.
[3] Turkish Daily News (Ankara), Dec. 16, 2005.
[4] Turkish Daily News, Dec. 23, 2005.
[5] Sabah, Nov. 13, 2005.
[6] Turkish Daily News, Oct. 20, 2005.
[7] Turkish Daily News, Oct. 21, 2005.
[8] Turkish Daily News, Dec. 15, 2005.
[9] Turkish Daily News, Dec. 23, 2005.
[10] Turkish Daily News, Jan. 31, 2006.
[11] Turkish Daily News, Mar. 2, 2006.
[12] Turkish Daily News, Feb. 15, 2006.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Turkey, the Middle East, & the U.S.A.
Middle East: Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist
ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public
Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson, of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff
advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of
History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of
Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at
the Council of Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and
International Affairs.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rubin was originally published in the Middle East Quarterly, Summer, 2006, and can be
found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
September 25, 2006
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