I am from Turkey and this really concerns me. If we don't protest this in the streets and fight back I am afraid we don't have any kind of law anymore.
Isn't this just the latest cut in your democracy's death by a thousand cuts?
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Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
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Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why it is a wow?
Well at least in my opinion, it seems extremely undemocratic. University education is a privilege that some people won’t be able to experience (financial constraints, having to care for relatives, …), and I don’t think it’s a unique qualifier for being a good president. I think if people want to elect someone who didn’t go to university, they should be able to.
Apparently colleges and trade schools count as well.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#63In other, recent, non-related news, Columbia University revoked the diplomas of some pro-Palestine protestors[1]. The CBS headline buries the lede, but revoking diplomas is not too low for American universities. 1. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/columbia-university-pro...
Their diplomas were not revoked for being pro-Palestine, they were revoked for seizing a building, trespassing and vandalism. That's a false equivalence to what is happening in Turkey.
In addition to the other commenters points occupying and renaming Hamilton Hall is something of a tradition at Columbia. These students were already facing criminal/civil charges where appropriate.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#64The really interesting news here is that in Turkey you need a degree to run for president.
I'm sure it sounded like a good idea at the time but this proves once again these kind of limitations placed on leadership positions can and will be exploited.
Very commonly seen in corporate politics. A promotion has certain requirements which seem objective, but all someone has to do to block your promotion is simply make sure you never get assigned any work which would fulfill the requirements.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why it is a wow?
Well at least in my opinion, it seems extremely undemocratic. University education is a privilege that some people won’t be able to experience (financial constraints, having to care for relatives, …), and I don’t think it’s a unique qualifier for being a good president. I think if people want to elect someone who didn’t go to university, they should be able to.
Democracy doesn't work when ordinary people are not educated. Education in Turkey has been very poor. Many people have finished only 5th or 8th grades. Many didn't go to a high school. Thus people are not critical thinkers. They are voting as if they are supporting a football team. Someone popular with a low education can fool people, just like in Turkey or Venezuella. And now here we see the result. Erdoğan has no diploma and he is trying to keep his seat by doing everything.
Would you mind your money in the bank managed by illeterate person? Or would you mind going to a doctor without any degree? Why you are going to trust somone who does not have legal degree?
In my opinion university degree is not enough. He should have at least masters degree.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#66Well, can't some university just award him a degree?
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#67The Trump administration is similarly trying to purge / stifle academic institutions and bend them to their uses. For example, the Trump administration has told Columbia to dissolve specific academic departments. See this earlier discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43358925 The US and Turkish governments are operating under the same authoritarian rules of engagement, it's just that the Turks are further…
Less than a year ago multiple States attempted to remove Trump from the Presidential ballot. That’s the closer analogue to the shenanigans in Turkey, not the attempted equivalence you’re trying to make.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#68To add insult to injury, it could be the case that Erdogan's degree is fake [1] (I don't know of a single Turkish person NOT voting for him that thinks that his degree is authentic) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan_univ...
From a brief reading of the wikipedia article you linked, I'm under impression that the accusations are baseless (given that there are - supposedly - witnesses and his former classmates that confirm his version, and apparently no whistleblowers that present a proof otherwise). The sources are in Turkish so I didn't consult them[1]. Is the article biased or omits some important context? Since you believe the degree is not authentic I assume you know about some things suggesting misconduct.
[1] Yes, I could translate them, but I'm not prepared to go down this particular rabbit hole.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well at least in my opinion, it seems extremely undemocratic. University education is a privilege that some people won’t be able to experience (financial constraints, having to care for relatives, …), and I don’t think it’s a unique qualifier for being a good president. I think if people want to elect someone who didn’t go to university, they should be able to.
Democracy doesn't work when ordinary people are not educated. Education in Turkey has been very poor. Many people have finished only 5th or 8th grades. Many didn't go to a high school. Thus people are not critical thinkers. They are voting as if they are supporting a football team. Someone popular with a low education can fool people, just like in Turkey or Venezuella. And now here we see the result. Erdoğan has no d…
If the democracy doesn’t work because voters aren’t educated, you can’t just bolt on constraints onto the election process until you like the result. That’s undemocratic by definition. The solution would be to educate voters.
Re: Turkish university annuls Erdogan rival's degree, preventing run for president
#70Note that two of the other popular opposition parties’ leaders are in the prison right now. Imamoglu is the candidate for the main opposition party (CHP, Social Democrats) and is leading in the polls. There are multiple investigations for Imamoglu as well. So imprisonment or a political ban is still on the table. This was just a low-key attempt to disqualify him without further ado.