TURKEY: GUL'S APPOINTMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002944

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: GUL'S APPOINTMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION
COUNCIL OF PROFESSOR WHO OPPOSES HEADSCARF BAN SPARKS
CONCERN FROM SECULAR ESTABLISHMENT

REF: ANKARA 2922

Classified By: Political Counselor Janice G. Weiner, reasons 1.4 (b),(d
)

1.(C) Summary: President Gul's December 10 appointment of a
moderate professor who opposes the headscarf ban to chair the
Higher Education Board (YOK),a pillar of the secular
establishment, is triggering a societal debate certain to
grow in coming weeks. Middle East Technical University
(METU) sociology professor Yusuf Ziya Ozcan is seen as an
enlightened moderate by many of his colleagues in academia,
but as a conservative ideologue by many within the Kemalist
establishment. Ozcan may have sincere plans to modernize
Turkey's university system, but his already outspoken beliefs
on the headscarf ban may ultimately overshadow his legacy.
End summary.

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Gul Appoints Sociology Professor to Head YOK
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2. (SBU) President Gul's December 10 appointment of sociology
Professor Yusuf Ziya Ozcan as chairman of YOK has already
made waves throughout Turkey. As YOK chairman, Ozcan will
oversee the body that supervises and regulates all
universities in Turkey, and enforces the existing ban on the
headscarf in universities. Ozcan follows former chairman
Erdogan Tezic, a secularist who ran YOK as a staunch
protector of the Republic's Kemalist values (reftel). Ozcan
was born in 1951 in Ankara into a poor family. He graduated
from Ankara University with a degree in Sociology in 1973.
Ozcan then spent eight years in the U.S. on a Ministry of
Education scholarship, earning masters and doctorate degrees
from the University of Chicago in 1978 and 1981. He has
since served as a lecturer and professor of sociology at
METU. From 1992-1994, he was a guest professor at Malaysia's
International Islam University and has lectured at the Police
Academy here on his terrorism research. Ozcan is also
currently an aide to the chairman of the Scientific and
Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and heads
the scientific board of the Ankara-based think tank
International Center for Strategic Research (USAK). He has
published on Islam, Muslim social movements, and the police.
Tufan Turenc of "Hurriyet" daily claims that Ozcan is close
to religious leader Fethullah Gulen. Ozcan is currently
married to his third wife, a professor of economics at
Bilkent University. They have a 4-year-old son.


3. (C) Although he does not have any particular high-level
administrative experience, he is "an extremely smart man and
has excellent contacts both from the left and the right of
the political spectrum," according to hard-core secularist
Ersin Onulduran, Executive Director of the Fulbright
Commission, from which Ozcan resigned upon his appointment.
He observes that Ozcan does not drink and that he fasts at
Ramadan, but claims that that is the extent of Ozcan's
religiousness. Embassy officers describe Ozcan as affable
and thoughtful, but not a hard-charging leader.


4. (SBU) Professor Ozcan has been outspoken about the
"needless fears" about the headscarf in Turkey and took the
opportunity December 11 to continue in the same vein. In
televised remarks, Ozcan stated, "I have two visions. One is
to remove all bans at universities, the other is to give more
importance to the scientific approach which is the basic duty
of universities. I believe universities should be completely
free institutions and should only be concerned with
learning.... If we can do this, I think problems such as the
headscarf will be overcome."

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Ozcan: A Moderate Professor...
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5. (C) Numerous academics welcomed the appointment of Ozcan
as a positive step forward for Turkey's university system.
METU colleague Sencer Ayata, Dean of the Graduate School of
Sociology, told us that Ozcan is a "no-nonsense academic with
many years of relevant experience who will turn YOK into a

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more efficient institution." METU sociology professor Aykan
Erdemir called Ozcan a critical thinker who would bring
heretofore nonexistent perspective to an institution
dominated by uncreative engineers and lawyers. Erdemir
believes Ozcan will revitalize YOK by focusing on increasing
international educational partnerships and instilling YOK
with a modern outlook. Erdemir fears, though, that Ozcan's
work and ultimately his legacy at YOK will be clouded by the
contentious headscarf issue. METU International Relations
professor Ihsan Dagi, who co-founded the Pollmark public
opinion research firm with Ozcan, sees the headscarf as
secondary to substantive issues; he claims Ozcan will not
move to change the ban, but may in two or three years soften
the approach. He dismisses the term conservative, calling
Ozcan liberal in outlook. Dagi describes Ozcan as someone
who can build bridges with social and academic circles and
return YOK to its "normal, legal" role of improving
universities.


5. (C) Ankara University Anthropology Professor Tayfun Atay
described Ozcan as a liberal conservative with balanced
views. Although he expects critiques and expressions of
disappointment from nationalistic circles in the press and
bureaucracy, Atay believes that "deep down, even Ozcan's
critics know that he is neither a reactionary nor extremist.
He will be the most civic and civil president YOK has seen."
Dr. Sedat Laciner, Director of the International Center for
Strategic Research (USAK),told us that after having worked
closely with Ozcan at USAK, he feels strongly that he is an
"American-style, results-oriented person, who is the right
man for the job." Laciner predicted that Ozcan would not
become preoccupied with the headscarf issue, and would not
allow his ties with President Gul to cloud his independent
thinking.

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...Or a Conservative Ideologue?
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6. (C) Bilkent University Professor Umit Cizre, an expert on
civil-military relations, cautioned us to look beyond Ozcan's
"smiley and nice" exterior. Cizre believes the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP) selected Ozcan because he
is sympathetic to AKP's views. His deeply conservative
outlook makes him inappropriate for YOK -- an institution
endowed with the responsibility of preserving the secular
nature of the university education system. Cizre's claim
that Mrs. Ozcan's refusal to wear short sleeves is indicative
of their conservative ideology may reflect an idee fixe of
secular skeptics; Embassy officers have seen Mrs. Ozcan in
light clothing at a beach resort.


7. (C) Cizre highlighted several other things that make the
establishment wary of Ozcan: Ozcan, on several occasions,
made public remarks in favor of abolishing the headscarf ban;
he founded Pollmark, a polling company used by the AKP; he
taught at Malaysia Islam University; and he had close
relationships with several AKP leaders, including Prime
Ministry foreign policy advisor Ahmet Davutoglu, and Minister
of Interior Besir Atalay. Cizre believes the military and
secular establishment will await Ozcan's actions and policies
in the coming weeks prior to making any strong public
reaction.


8. (C) Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) member of
the parliamentary Education Committee Muharrem Ince also
expressed deep concerns about Ozcan's selection. He viewed
Ozcan's connection to Pollmark as evidence of Ozcan's
political bond with the AKP, terming it a company "fed by the
AKP." He feared that with Ozcan at the helm, all
prohibitions would be lifted; once the headscarf was allowed
on campus, uncovered girls would be forced to conform or be
forced out.


9. (C) Comment: In an emphatic gesture of censure after the
appointment, YOK vice chairman Aybar Ertepinar resigned from
his post and stated his intention to resign from YOK
altogether (the direct connection between the appointment and
the resignation was disingenuously downplayed by Islamist
English-language paper Today's Zaman). Widely diverging

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media coverage hints at the prospect of a renewed battle
between old guard Kemalists and AKP and the President. Some
play up Ozcan's Islamist interests, assiduously list
Islam-related titles from his publication record, and assert
his close connections to AKP bigwigs, while others emphasize
his moderation and omit details like his time in Malaysia.
Ozcan will likely become a lightning rod for an elite class
that sees flexibility on the headscarf question as the thin
edge of the Islamic wedge. End comment.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON