Now is the Time to Increase Solidarity
The second phase in the fundraising campaign: BOYUT and BTF collaboration
As Boğaziçi University International Community (BOYUT), we have initiated the second phase of the fundraising campaign for university students who are directly affected by the earthquakes that occurred on February 6th. In the first phase we have sent a one-time stipend worth 5,000 TL (ca. $250) per person in aid to 150 students, in cooperation with the student councils, alumni organizations, and academics of the selected universities.
In this second round, we will execute the fundraising campaign in collaboration with Bridge to Turkey (BTF) platform, an organization with over 20 years of experience organizing aid campaingns in Turkey. We will be extending our support to students from Boğaziçi University, Middle East Technical University, Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, Ankara University, Ege University, Hacettepe University students, Gebze Technical University and Çukurova University students. Our ultimate goal is to expand the campaign’s reach to more universities once the fundraising pool is expanded.
We would be grateful if you could circulate this campaign among your networks:
BOYUT (Boğaziçi University International Community) is the community of Bogazici University alumni living outside of Turkey. It is a nonpartisan volunteer community formed with the fundamental aim of supporting institutional autonomy, academic freedom and democratic governance being endorsed and implemented in all universities and particularly in Bogazici University.
Our primary target is to ensure the withdrawal of the politically-motivated appointments to Bogazici University that started on the January 2, 2021. These appointments completely disregard the present practices of autonomy and governance as well as the academic criteria in our University. Against these appointments, we endeavor for the democratic election of university administration through processes open to the participation of all university constituents.
Since its establishment in January, BOYUT has contributed in the formation of a network among alumni living abroad, by producing written, oral and visual content for the publication of their actions and activities. We have worked to ensure the coordination among other organizations by university constituents, developing channels of solidarity for academics and students from Bogazici University and other universities. We have established contacts with academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and the press to report the rights violations related to the university resistance in Turkey. We invite all international Bogazici University alumni who share our goals and principles, to join us in our endeavor.
As the alumni of Bogazici University living abroad we are aware of the value that has been created for us and for our societies, by the free and high quality education that we received in a public university. We consider it our duty to fight for the right of the next generations to be educated in qualified, free and autonomous universities. For this exact reason we do not accept and we do not give up.