Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ANKARA7691
2003-12-16 10:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

NEW HIGHER EDUCATION PRESIDENT TAKES OVER TURKEY'S

Tags:  KPAO OEXC SCUL TU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007691 

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STATE FOR ECA/A/L; ECA/A; EUR/PPD


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2013
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL TU
SUBJECT: NEW HIGHER EDUCATION PRESIDENT TAKES OVER TURKEY'S
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

(U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch for Reason: 1.5 (b)
and (d).


C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007691

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STATE FOR ECA/A/L; ECA/A; EUR/PPD


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2013
TAGS: KPAO OEXC SCUL TU
SUBJECT: NEW HIGHER EDUCATION PRESIDENT TAKES OVER TURKEY'S
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

(U) Classified by DCM Robert S. Deutsch for Reason: 1.5 (b)
and (d).



1. (C) Summary: On December 8, President Sezer appointed
Erdogan Tezic, the rector of Galatasaray University, as head
of the Higher Education Council (YOK),replacing Kemal Guruz.
Like President Sezer, Erdogan Tezic is a specialist in
constitutional law, having served as a law professor in
Istanbul University and a legal advisor to the parliament,
and as a member of YOK. Kemal Guruz's eight-year tenure as
the president of YOK was marked by controversy. While
strengthening U.S.-Turkey exchanges and imposing much-needed
discipline, he was accused of being more interested in
rooting out Islamic elements in universities than in raising
the level of education. YOK exerted tight control over a
centralized university system, overruling the elections of
some rectors while imposing a one-size-fits-all university
system. Kemal Guruz was uncompromising during his tenure;
most recently, he fought against the AK government's new
higher education draft law, which would transfer many aspects
of control over the univers
ity system from YOK to the government. In his public
comments over the years, new YOK chairman Tezic has advocated
a more flexible "framework" in which universities are free to
develop and specialize within broader guidelines and exercise
more power over their own budgets. Returning more control to
the universities would, in theory, please both sides of the
debate. End Summary.


--------------
What is YOK?
--------------



2. (U) While the Minister of Education is in charge of
education at all levels, in practice, higher education has
been a prerogative of the YOK, with secondary education
falling under the purview of the Ministry of Education. YOK
was set up in 1982 by the military junta running the country
after the 1980 coup. At present, YOK determines the budgets
for the universities, the number of personnel at each
university, the number of students, the salaries of teachers
at different grades, and even the curriculum for departments
such as education. YOK also controls the university entrance
examination system with rules making it virtually impossible

to enter a department in a university different from one's
specialization in high school. Rectors are largely selected
by YOK, which forwards three of the top six candidates
elected by the university staff to the President of Turkey,
who in turn selects one. It has happened in the past that
the candidate who received the least number of votes out of
the six became rec
tor; Istanbul University's rigidly secular rector Alemdaroglu
is an example of this. Under present law, YOK has 22 members
equally divided between those selected by the Inter
University Council (7),the President (7),a council of
ministers of the government (7),and one from the military.


--------------
YOK under Kemal Guruz
--------------



3. (C) Under Guruz's tenure, YOK vigorously enforced the law
forbidding female students wearing headscarves from entering
Turkish universities, including theology faculties; some
women theology students wear wigs over their headscarves in
protest, which adds a touch of the absurd to a situation that
pleases no one. Even foreigners must adhere to this ban on
headscarves. In a recent international conference held at
Istanbul University, a plenary speaker from Oman was unable
to enter the university and deliver her speech because she
was wearing a headscarf. YOK also changed the coefficient
for entrance examinations so that students from vocational
schools such as the religious Imam Hatip schools have their
scores multiplied by the normal 0.8 if entering a university
department in the same branch they studied in high school but
by only 0.3 if they try to enter another department. This
effectively bars Imam Hatip graduates from entering any
department other than theology. Dr. Guruz has been accused
of denyin
g professorships of candidates whose
research he viewed as supporting an Islamist ideology.





4. (U) Kemal Guruz presided over a university system that
expanded almost 80 per cent under his tenure. Guruz's main
accomplishment was instilling discipline in the university
system. He made teachers accountable, while streamlining and
standardizing the promotion system, requiring, for example, a
specific number of publications to move to a higher grade.
He also established a system of diploma equivalency,
facilitating international exchange.



5. (U) Dr. Guruz was an ardent supporter of educational
exchange programs with the United States. He was instrumental
in facilitating numerous linkages, both private and
USG-supported between U.S. and Turkish universities. He also
spoke publicly in favor of the U.S. policy in Iraq and of the
need to root out Islamic terrorism through secular education.
He placed a high priority on staff development, sending
thousands of staff members abroad (mostly to the U.S.) to
obtain advanced degrees. During his tenure Turkey moved from
34th to 22nd in world ratings of quantity of international
academic publications.


--------------
Recent Educational Controversy
--------------



6. (C) The most controversial item in the draft law to amend
higher education was the abolition of the coefficient that
effectively barred Imam Hatip graduates from studying
subjects other than theology in universities. This proposed
change is viewed by the "secular" establishment as an effort
to pack the university system with Islamists. Proponents of
the change counter that Imam Hatip graduates have gone
through the same regular curriculum as all other high school
students and that most Imam Hatip students have career goals
other than becoming preachers.



7. (C) Another controversial amendment was the requirement to
have separate elections for rectors, deans, and the heads of
the schools, who were to be dismissed before standing for
election. By some estimates more than 30,000 university
administrators would have been dismissed, virtually
paralyzing the system. Most university administrators Emboff
has met state that this would politicize the university
system with separate voting blocks for each administrator,
who would be unable to make the necessary tough decisions for
fear of losing popularity. AK Party officials argued that
these changes would bring more democracy into the system.
Other amendments reduced rectors' terms from two to one and
transferred many decision-making powers from rectors to
senates. All of these changes would take power away from
rectors, who, according to a highly placed AK-appointed
official and to a number of professors we have talked to, now
enjoy more power than government ministers.



8. (U) The draft law also reduced the number of YOK council
members selected by the president and by the Inter University
Council, while raising the number of members selected by the
government, effectively ceding control of YOK to the
government. Dr. Guruz refused to negotiate with the Ministry
of Education to change the draft law but did lobby with
President Sezer and the military to shelve the law. His
highly publicized meeting with the Turkish Land Forces
Commander was condemned as an anti-democratic move even by
many who are wary of the motives of the draft law's
proponents. At the ceremony to launch the academic year at
Kocaeli University in Izmit, Kemal Guruz refused to shake
hands with Minister of Education Huseyin Celik. Since
negotiations between YOK and the Ministry had broken down,
the Inter University Council filled the vacuum to write a
draft law of its own. In the end, the government's draft
law, highly flawed and launched without an adequate public
relations campaign, stirred up so much c
ontroversy that Prime Minister Erdogan shelved it for the
near term.


--------------
Erdogan Tezic
--------------



9. (U) Born in Istanbul in 1936, Erdogan Tezic graduated from
Galatasaray High School, a Francophone institution, in 1955
and the Istanbul University Law Faculty in 1959. After
completing his doctorate studies in the University of Paris
Law Faculty, Tezic joined at the Istanbul University Law
Faculty as a constitutional law professor. Tezic has broad
administrative experience. He was principal of the
Galatasaray High School, chairman of the Constitutional Law
department of the Law Faculty of the Galatasaray University,
and assistant rector of the same university. Dr. Tezic
served as legal adviser at the Turkish parliament in the
Speaker's office between 1993 and 2000. From 2000 until the
present, he was the rector of Galatasaray University. Dr.
Tezic is also guest lecturer at the University of Paris and
the Rennes I University and has received an Order of Merit
from the French Government. He has written numerous books and
articles on politics and law. Tezic was captain the national
volleyball team and
was a member of the Turkish National Olympic Committee as
well as of the Istanbul Olympic Games Organization Committee
between 1992 and 1995.



10. (C) According to press reports confirmed by Embassy
sources, upon becoming President in 2000, Sezer asked Erdogan
Tezic to take over YOK from Kemal Guruz, with whom he had a
severe personality clash. Tezic refused, arguing that unless
malfeasance was involved, the incumbent should be allowed to
complete his term.



11. (C) Although he is known for his opposition to the AK
Party, Tezic, in one of his first public comments upon being
selected as chairman of YOK, described his desire to avoid
controversy. He stated that he believes that "academic
values" should take precedence and that problems should be
solved through negotiations with involved parties, a distinct
departure from his predecessor. He has also stated that he
intends to continue his teaching duties at Galatsaray
University in order to maintain contact with students.
According to present members of YOK, Tezic will continue to
live in Istanbul, working three days a week in Ankara,
although this has been refuted in recent press reports.
Tezic is expected to uphold the law but with a more flexible
approach. In a recent CNN Turk discussion regarding whether
women should be allowed into courts and hospitals with their
heads covered, Tezic made a distinction between scarves,
which are religious symbols and turbans (more tightly wrapped
scarves covering all hair),which he asserted are political
symbols. Tezic stated that the constitution forbids the
turban from public places but it is up to the judge to decide
if the attire disturbs public order. (Note: It is not the
Constitution itself but a narrow Constitutional Court ruling
that defines this ban. End note.) He stated that no one
would try to stop a woman wearing a religious, in contrast to
what he asserted is a political, symbol from entering a
hospital.



12. (C) In televised debates on education, Tezic has proposed
a framework approach, which allows universities to function
under broader guidelines than in the present system. He also
has proposed giving universities more autonomy in handling
their budgets. One Embassy contact remarked that this is a
win-win situation, which would please the present government
by leaving room for what he called "Islamic universities" to
develop, while the university community would free itself
from an over centralized system.



13. (C) The head of the Fulbright Commission reported to us
after visiting YOK that YOK believes Tezic is as good a
choice as any under present circumstances. Known as a
staunch supporter of Kemal Guruz, Tezic is expected to defend
a secular university system without Guruz's pugnacious
approach. One Embassy contact remarked that it was no
coincidence that we are now seeing demonstrations by students
unable to enter educational facilities with headscarves.



14. (C) Comment: Kemal Guruz's many accomplishments were
often overshadowed by his uncompromising approach and
willingness to pick a fight. While some aspects of the new
draft law need to be radically altered or abandoned, Guruz's
unwillingness to negotiate handed the task of drafting a new
higher education law to another body, the Inter University
Council, leaving YOK with no say in the bill's future.
Tezic's initial public statements indicate a willingness to
negotiate and work with the parties involved in shaping
Turkey's education system. There is widespread speculation
that the Inter University Council will now return the task of
writing the draft law to YOK. However, given the fact that
the government has its own plans and wants to pass the law by
the end of January 2004, there is a possibility that the new
draft law may change the way YOK is constituted, which would
require Tezic to step down after only one month in office. It
is unlikely that Tezic, with his strong academic ties to
Europe, will be
as forward leaning in his promotion of U.S.-Turkey
educational ties as was his predecessor.
EDELMAN