Professor Noam Chomsky, the celebrated linguist, philosopher, political analyst and hisutorian from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – which is also partnered with Boğaziçi University – praised the nature of the ongoing university resistance in Turkey.
“Brave and honourable” was how Chomsky defined the resistance of the Boğaziçi University students, who have been opposing Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appointment of a former member of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), Melih Bulu, as a rector to their university.
More than 3,000 international academics and thinkers, including Judith Butler and Noam Chomsky condemned the police violence and emphasized the “autonomous university” demand raised by the protesting students. The academics also called upon Melih Bulu to resign.
Chomsky shared his solidarity message for the resisting students with Mesopotamia Agency (MA).
He described President Erdoğan’s accusations that the student protesters were “terrorists” as “disrespectful and absurd. The resistance and action will continue against the discriminatory narrative and oppressive regime of the Erdoğan government. This absurdity needs to be put to an end as soon as possible”, he said.
Chomsky demanded that the arrested students be released: “I find the resistance of the students in Boğaziçi University brave and honourable. I think it is absurd and weird for the President and the Interior Minister to be calling students ‘terrorists’. I can say that the resistance will increase if Erdogan’s repressive regime continues to lie and use the language of division. Active protests against government forces must be internationally recognised and protected”, Chomsky said.