A respected teacher and treasured constitution law specialst, Professor Tanor has written a report on "Raising the Standards of Democracy in Turkey" for the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) and been paid a royalty.
Article 36 of the Higher Education Law clearly permits faculty to earn royalties; and the initiative to castigate Professor Tanor for this reason ignores the law... This unlawful act is intentional... Turkish law students still need him...
We have learned that the President of the Istanbul University
has asked the Higher Education Board, the overseeing authority, to discipline Professor Bulent Tanor by expelling him from his tenured position at the University. A respected teacher and treasured lawyer, Professor Tanor has written a report on "Raising the Standards of Democracy in Turkey" for
the Turkish Businessmen and Association (TUSIAD) and been paid a royalty. Article 36 of the Higher Education Law clearly permits faculty to earn royalties; and the initiative to castigate Professor Tanor for this reason ignores the law.
This unlawful act is intentional. Hundreds of University members write similar reports for royalties. The movement to single out Prof. Tanor and punish him is not only unjust, it also represents a very dangerous development regarding democratization of the country and is a harmful step against scientific and intellectual independence in Turkey.
We, the undersigned, support and stand by Professor Tanor!
____________________
Turkish translation:
Ulkemizin en degerli ve en saygýn hukukcularýndan Prof. Dr. Bulent
TANOR'un, Istanbul Universitesi Rektörü tarafýndan üniversite öðretim
üyeliði mesleginden cikarma cezasý istemiyle Yüksek Ogretim Kuruluna
sevkedilmesini derin bir uzuntuyle karsiliyoruz. Tanor, TUSIAD'a
"Demokratik Standartlarýn Yukseltilmesi" konulu bir kitap hazýrlamis ve
telif ucreti almistir. YOK kanunundaki 36. maddenin ogretim uyelerine
telif hakký karsiligi calýsmalar yapma iznini acik olarak vermesine
karsin, yasa maddesi bilincli bir sekilde gozardý edilerek Tanor'e ceza
verilmek istenilmesi keyfi ve kasitlidir. Nitekim universitelerimizde
yuzlerce hoca cesitli kuruluslar icin cok farkli konularda Bulent
Tanor'un hazýrladigi turde calismalari telif ucreti karsiliginda
hazirlamislardir, hazirlamaktadirlar. Tanör'e meslekten cikarma
cezasýnýn verilmesini nesnel ve adil bulmuyoruz; bu durumu ülkemizin
hukuku, bilim hayatý, demokrasisi ve üniversiteleri açýsýndan vahim
bir olay olarak niteliyoruz. Deðerli hocamizin yanýnda oldugumuzu
kamuoyuna duyurmayi gorev sayiyoruz.
