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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AA OSCE
SUBJECT: RECTOR: CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CHANGE THE FACE OF 
BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY 
 
REF: ANKARA 1451 
 
Classified By: Consul General Sharon A. Wiener for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
 ¶1.  (C) Summary: Bogazici University rector Kadri Ozcaldiran 
provided Consul General with a bleak prospect for the future 
of what was once Turkey,s premier small university.  The 
conversation occurred against a backdrop of high media 
coverage of Ozcaldiran,s unique approach to enforcing a ban 
on headscarves in the university.  The rector explained the 
ban,s greater significance as Turkey,s Higher Education 
Board (YOK) reacts to demographic pressures from Anatolia and 
increases Bogazici,s enrollment;  YOK,s detrimental impact 
on the character of both Bogazici University and Middle East 
Technical University; and the small but noticeable number of 
students who hold negative opinions of the United States and 
therefore choose not to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. 
End Summary. 
 
A Focus on Bogazici University,s American Heritage 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Prior to its nationalization in 1971, Bogazici 
University was Robert College, a private American missionary 
school founded in 1863 and reputedly the first American 
school abroad. In the 1970s, Robert College became a state 
university and established itself as an academically 
prestigious school that carried on the Western academic 
traditions of Robert College.  It currently has 11,000 
undergraduate and graduate students. Bogazici has multiple 
relationships with universities in the United States but, 
Ozcaldiran explains, the faculty would like to establish 
long-lasting ties with a prestigious university such as Yale 
or Harvard.  In addition to institutional ties, Ozcaldiran 
said he wants to create a center publicizing Bogazici,s U.S. 
heritage, drawing on the resources of Robert College,s 
archives stored at Columbia University. The Consul General 
pledged to help with this project where possible and offered 
to invite two or three Political Science students to the 
Consulate General,s election watch event on November 5. 
 
 
Politicized Rectorship Appointment 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) President Gul named Ozcaldiran as rector on August 5 
during an appointment process heavily criticized by the media 
as overtly partisan.   Rectors are appointed through a 
three-phase system, with each university's faculty voting for 
six top candidates, who are then submitted to Turkey's Higher 
Education Board (YOK).  YOK submits a short-list to the 
president composed of any three of the top six names; the 
president may appoint any of these three as rector.  This 
year, 12 of the 21 new rectors had received the highest 
number of peer votes in the first stage.  Gul selected 
Ozcaldiran, Bogazici University's top candidate in the peer 
election, over the second vote-getter Ayse Soysal despite 
Soysal's support for lifting the headscarf ban (Reftel). 
Soysal was one of only two sitting rectors eligible for a 
second term who didi not win the peer elections. 
 
Liberal Approach to Headscarf Ban Enforcement 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Citing Bogazici,s liberal past, Ozcaldiran 
instituted a system in early September in which students and 
professors were provided the opportunity to sign a 
declaration of understanding about current regulations 
regarding the headscarf.  Individuals who signed such a 
declaration were permitted to wear headscarves as they had 
acknowledged their responsibilities. As Rector, he explained, 
"I can let them in with their symbols as long as the 
individual understands the repercussions."  According to 
Ozcaldiran, the Supreme Court ruling on headscarves is the 
law and he contended he is not responsible for questioning 
the legitimacy of such a law, only to respect it. Personally, 
he noted, "I couldn,t care less.  If she is over 18, 
anything goes." He now acknowledged that it was a mistake to 
think that his approach would be understood and not 
politicized in light of the sensitive political environment 
in Turkey. 
 
How Covered is the University? A Question of Demographics 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ozcaldiran admitted that he did not have an 
accurate count of the number of students who do or would 
 
ISTANBUL 00000535  002 OF 002 
 
 
cover their heads at Bogazici.  To estimate, Ozcaldiran 
showed the Consul General a spreadsheet and graphs portraying 
the number of students in each department from Anatolia 
compared to the number from urban centers. He conjectured 
that the number of students who wear headscarves is roughly 
equivalent to the number of female Anatolian students. 
Ozcaldiran estimates that nearly 70 percent of female 
students in the education department would wear the headscarf 
as these students are largely from Anatolia.  Of the female 
engineering students, 50 percent would wear headscarves.  He 
noted that many engineering students come from high schools 
established by the "Gulen movement."  Conversely, only five 
to six percent of female physical and social science students 
might wear headscarves because they largely come from 
wealthier families and urban centers, Ozcaldiran explained. 
Despite these geographic and philosophical differences, he 
maintained that the students mix well socially. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ozcaldiran explained his understanding of the 
motivation of young women who wear headscarves. He said that 
the majority of covered women cover for their own beliefs, 
not because of family pressure or to make a singularly 
political statement. According to Ozcaldiran, Islam cannot be 
separated from its political nature, comparing its influence 
on daily life to that of Christianity 600 years ago. 
 
A New Research University? The Future of Bogazici University 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Considering his recent appointment, the Consul 
General asked what plans Ozcaldiran had for the university in 
his new capacity.  Acknowledging that its "glory days as a 
liberal arts college" are over and facing the reality of 
significant increases in the student population, he said he 
plans to make Bogazici a research university.  "Bogazici is 
now just one of 150 branches of a national university" 
centrally controlled by YOK, he said. YOK enrolled 10 percent 
more students for this academic year, and Ozcaldiran related 
that the YOK director told him to expect even more students 
next year.  He said that national demographics force YOK to 
increase the number of accepted students, and subsequently 
decrease the quality of education.  Additionally, he 
explained that YOK controls the selection of research and 
teaching assistants and he anticipates it will soon select 
assistant professors.  If YOK continues to operate as it does 
now, "state schools will suffer from poor quality education 
and the privately-funded schools will offer higher quality 
schooling." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) According to Ozcaldiran, designation with a special 
status is the only way to "save" the university.  He 
suggested allying Bogazici with the Middle East Technical 
University in Ankara, established in 1959 to bring American 
teaching methods to Turkey.  Ozcalidran expressed his hope 
that a special status would make these two universities 
exempt from the requirements foisted upon other public 
universities. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment:  Facing demographic pressures to increase 
university enrollment across the country, YOK is enrolling 
more Anatolian students in urban center universities as more 
Anatolian students receive high enough scores in the 
university entrance exam to win placement in those 
universities.  Rector Ozcaldiran acknowledged that 
demographic pressures result in more than just more 
headscarves on campus. More significantly, the quality of 
education will decline as student numbers increase.  Even if 
Bogazici is unable to obtain a specialized status within the 
national education system, it will have to rely on ties with 
prestigious American institutions of higher education to 
distinguish the quality of education and worldview of its 
students.  End Comment. 
WIENER