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| Turkey's first headscarved rector, Ayşegül Jale Saraç, speaks to reporters at Dicle University in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. |
Arınç spoke with reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Monday. When asked a question regarding the claims made about Saraç, Arınç stated that this issue was not among the subjects discussed during the Cabinet meeting, but he said he wanted to express his personal thoughts on the matter, stating: “I have attended activities organized by that university several times. She [Saraç] is a good woman of science. She is a daughter of Diyarbakır. As I see it, she is very dignified and devout and a person loved by the people around her. It made me very happy that this rector continued her duty in that way [headscarved] after the ban on headscarves in public service was lifted. This is behavior that should be appreciated. As we know and as others can confirm, this lady is a religious woman and she performs her duties well. To have made such claims about such a lady was a mistake.”
Earlier this month, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Diyarbakır deputy Cuma İçten accused Saraç and the administration of Dicle University of acting on behalf of the so-called “parallel structure.” He claimed that this “parallel structure” is very influential at the university and that the administration had pressured academics to make donations to the “parallel state.”
The “parallel state” or “parallel structure” is a term used by the government and pro-government circles to refer to the faith-based Hizmet movement inspired by the teachings of the esteemed Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Following the claims made by İçten, YÖK launched an administrative investigation of Saraç and other university officials on April 14.
Arınç also said that the deputy's allegations about Saraç are about events from several years ago, adding that even if he has evidence of his claims, he also has to explain why he waited so long before coming forward. “And if some are saying that she started to wear a headscarf to get rid of the allegations against her, this is an extremely outrageous claim. If anybody has any evidence, they should submit it to the judiciary as soon as possible. If there are allegations of corruption or misconduct, why hasn't the evidence been given to the relevant institutions? I don't believe it is good to associate the allegations with the rector's decision to wear a headscarf,” Arınç said.
In the first week of April, Saraç began wearing the Islamic headscarf, the first in the position of the highest academic officer at a public university to do so. She said it was her personal religious choice to wear the headscarf.
Arınç further stated that AK Party deputy İçten is accusing Saraç of being linked to the parallel state, adding: “OK, there may have been some administrations that sympathized with their ideas [the so-called parallel state]. However, what did they do? Do we have any evidence or documentation to prove that those administrations engaged in any illegal acts? We cannot just accuse someone for no reason. We have to be fair. Sympathizing with someone [Gülen and the Hizmet movement] is not important unless they have engaged in misconduct.”
Published on Today's Zaman, 22 April 2014, Tuesday
