This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, February 8th, 2021. I'm

Caleb Brown. Turkish President Erdogan sparked protest at a top

university in Turkey when he put a political ally and a leadership

post there. The government response to the protests that ensued both familiar

and troubling. Cato's Mustafa Akyol attended the school in question, Bozichie University.

We spoke last week.

Describe this university.

Bozigy University is Turkey's top university since the 19th century. It was founded in 1863 by Americans.

It's actually the first American educational institution, higher educational institution, founded outside of the United States.

It was called Robert College for a very long time, but in the 70s the Turkish government during a military coup era

nationalized the college part of Robert College. So it's called Boasich University, but still it's been based on the American

system. It's a very good liberal arts college. It's my alma matter. I was I studied

political science and then did master in History at Boazici

it's always being this liberal elite university which with the best education and a liberal

political attitude.

So how much independence existed at this university prior to Erdogan.

The Turkish government, even before Erdogan, took control of universities with a veered constitutional design.

In the 1980s, there was a military coup in Turkey and the junta left

behind a constitution and that constitution gave the president the power to appoint the presidents of state universities.

That is like the head of University of Pennsylvania appointed by somebody sitting in the White House.

So it was already a centralized system.

However, before Argoon,

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