Türkiye’s Erdogan shuts liberal Istanbul university

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Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially issued an emergency decree revoking the operating license of Istanbul Bilgi University, forcing the prominent, liberal-leaning institution to shut down immediately in the middle of the academic year. 

The sudden executive order directly impacts more than 20,000 domestic and international students, as well as approximately 1,000 academic staff members, leaving their final exams and immediate futures in absolute limbo.

To justify the abrupt closure, the presidential edict cited a specific higher-education provision that allows the state to shut down a private institution if its level of training is deemed insufficient.

However, the university had already been under state control through a court-appointed trustee following a major tax-fraud and money-laundering investigation into its parent company, Can Holding.

Founded in 1996, Bilgi University was globally recognized for its pioneering liberal arts curriculum and active participation in the European Union’s Erasmus exchange program. 

Renowned faculty members and legal experts strongly condemned the overnight shutdown, branding the decree an unlawful act of political lawlessness that explicitly violates constitutional protections for universities in Türkiye. 

While the Council of Higher Education promised protective measures to ensure students face no academic harm before June exams, officials have yet to clarify how transfers to guarantor institutions will be managed.