Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Ayça Alemdaroğlu

Ayça Alemdaroğlu is research scholar and associate director of the Program on Turkey at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University.

The Capture of Turkey’s Universities Under the AKP
Students at Istanbul University protest in support of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose diploma was canceled and who was then detained on March 21, 2025. A banner and placards proclaim, “the university does not bow down” and “there is no liberation alone.” Berkman Ulutin/dia images via Getty Images
Academic Freedom

The Capture of Turkey’s Universities Under the AKP

How the AKP transformed an expanded university system into a terrain of political control.
Ayça Alemdaroğlu • 11 min read
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