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Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Elif Babül

Elif Babül is associate professor of anthropology at Mount Holyoke College. Her publications include Bureaucratic Intimacies: Translating Human Rights in Turkey (Stanford University Press, 2017).

Intellectual Traditions and the Academy in Turkey — An Interview with Evren Altınkaş
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against a purge of thousands of education staff since the attempted coup in July 2016, in front of the main campus of Istanbul University, November 3, 2016. Osman Orsal/ReutersEvren Altınkaş
Current Analysis

Intellectual Traditions and the Academy in Turkey — An Interview with Evren Altınkaş

MERIP editors interview Evren Altınkaş, a Turkish scholar who was pushed out of his academic position by his university’s administration as a consequence of participating in the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Altınkaş discusses his work on the intellectual tradition in Turkey, the role of the ruling AK
Ayça Alemdaroğlu, Elif Babül, Nabil Al-Tikriti • 11 min read
Boğaziçi Resists Authoritarian Control of the Academy in Turkey
Turkish riot police block the main gate of Boğaziçi University during protests against President Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector. Istanbul, January 4, 2021. Kemal Aslan/Reuters
Current Analysis

Boğaziçi Resists Authoritarian Control of the Academy in Turkey

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's appointment of Melih Bulu as the new rector of Boğaziçi University on January 1, 2021 provoked outrage among students and faculty in Turkey. Alemdaroğlu and Babül explain the anger behind the continuing protests and how Boğaziçi's struggle fits into a long history of
Ayça Alemdaroğlu, Elif Babül • 15 min read