The rectors of three universities were also alleged to be in the highest ranks of Ergenekon, coordinating its activities in universities, mobilizing students, organizing meetings and issuing university declarations in the service of Ergenekon. The university connections of Ergenekon are not limited to these high-ranking university administrators. There are many academics who work for Ergenekon, according to the three indictments submitted to the courts so far. Some of them are managing its media relations, while others are preparing an alternative cabinet that would take over after a military coup.Academics are accused of being members of the Ergenekon terror organization, which attempted to prepare the ground for an eventual military coup by plotting provocations -- coup attempts that former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök stated that he was aware of. So we are not taking about an imaginary possibility, but a real attempt that was led by the commander of the gendarmerie in 2003 and 2004, Gen. Sener Eruygur, the top suspect in the Ergenekon case today.
Such an accusation of top-ranking university administrators and academics being part of a “terror organization” should be shocking in a normal democracy. But for those of us who were in universities during the high times of Ergenekon activities in 2003 and 2004, these are not revelations at all. We knew very well how ultranationalists used universities and students under the protection of university leaders.
It was no secret that YÖK President Gürüz joined in a rally under the banner of “Military! Take over the duty,” calling for a direct military intervention.
It was obvious that in the years 2003 and 2004, coup plotters in the military and universities formed a “holy alliance,” using their official capacity to prepare the ground for a military coup. It is now a well-known fact that university rectors visited Gen. Eruygur, who was then the commander of the gendarmerie, in late 2003 and discussed how to take to the streets in order to mobilize the masses and enable the military to exert its presence in Turkish politics (Remember all these were done in the name of “protecting secularism.” I wrote many times that secularism was used as a cover to disguise the holy alliance between the military, universities and judiciary to replace the government by undemocratic means).
It should also be remembered that the rally where Gürüz and several rectors marched under a banner calling for a military intervention took place a few days after this meeting.
The indictment also reveals that the network tried hard to influence the appointments of rectors and academic promotions in universities. Moreover, the rector of İnönü University compiled personal information not only about university staff but also students.
Institutions that were supposed to be the most integrated with the world, with open-minded and democratically inclined personnel, had become the most reactionary and backward-looking entities under the influence of Ergenekon in the early 2000s. In this, the two central players were Gürüz and Erdoğan Tezic, the former presidents of YÖK. Their legacy has to be removed from universities in order to re-establish credibility and respect for universities as well as build a peaceful environment for research and teaching.
Today it is time to face the fact that over the years universities have become a home for xenophobic nationalists instead of critical minds and democratic openings. Academic integrity shamefully seems to have fallen victim to the hunger for power at the expense of democracy during the heyday of Ergenekon at universities.
Benzer Haberler 
