Turkey reopens prestigious private university days after abrupt closure

Istanbul's Bilgi University, one of Turkey's most respected private higher education institutions, has been reopened just two days after its sudden closure. The university, founded in 1996, had its operating license revoked by a presidential decree signed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 21 and published on May 22.

However, a new official directive released Sunday night nullified the initial closure. The brief text, also signed by Erdogan, offered no explanation for either the closure or its reversal, according to Turkish media. This rapid turnaround came after students facing the end of the academic year protested the closure, and the decision drew significant criticism on social media platforms.

The initial decree cited "insufficient academic and administrative oversight" as the reason for revoking the university's license. It also mentioned that the foundation overseeing Bilgi University had previously been intervened by the government, though no further details were provided. The judicial intervention of the Bilgi foundation occurred last September as part of a trial involving alleged financial irregularities by the Can Holding conglomerate, which owns numerous companies and had been the university's main financier since 2019. Despite the intervention, Bilgi University, with its three campuses, eight faculties, approximately 20,000 students, and a thousand faculty members, continued its academic activities unchanged until the recent closure.