Boğaziçi MUN | PRESENT

Boğaziçi Protests

Rising Tensions at Boğaziçi: Pluralist Democracy vs. Absolute Democracy

For those of our readers who are not familiar with the term pluralist and absolute democracy; pluralist democracy is a political system where organized groups compete with each other to influence the policy instead of one single group dominating the politics(1) , whereas absolute democracy is a hypothetical form of government where the needs and wants of the majority are prioritized, and the minorities are neglected(2) . As the protests continue in Boğaziçi University as well as in other parts of Turkey, we witness the lack of plurality in Turkish democracy. Instead of taking an approach to protect the rights and welfares of every citizen, including the minorities, the government and the police force are seen to be not only neglecting but also violating human rights and freedom of speech of the ones who disagree with the government policies. During countless protests that happened and are still happening all around the country, the government’s reaction was excessive police force which led to police brutality, unlawful arrests, and banning of everything they disagree with. This shows that apart from lacking plurality, Turkish democracy is starting to resemble an absolute democracy.

Articles

For the 16th time, greetings to you all. It is once again time for your monthly intake of articles, and, worry not, this issue is full of them!

The long-awaited summer season has finally come, and this time hotter than ever. Perhaps some of you reading this right now are lying down on a bench admiring the view of the sea, but I can assure you that our authors have been working on all these articles quite diligently. However, if it were not for you, the readers, we would not share our thoughts and feelings with you. Once again, thank you for keeping in touch with us. We sincerely appreciate your support more than anything else.

Let’s have a brief introduction to our articles on this issue. As for our agenda, we have touched upon the 26th anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre to reminisce the victims of this horrible event. On the bright side of the reality, Tokyo 2020 Olympics are just around the corner, which is a discussion topic in the Spotlight section. As for our Present and Voting section, we have a surprise for you: we decided to answer all your questions regarding the academic and social life at the university, and now you will be able to make your choices knowing exactly what to do! Furthermore, Taiwan’s Diminishing Success Against the Covid-19 becomes a topic of discussion and Misogyny in Philosophy in our Distressed section. Coming up next, homemade food and fast food clash into one another on the Intersection. Moving on to the Historical section, we will be delivering the voice of some fellow J’Accusing everyone: Émile Zola and The Dreyfus Affair. After that, we are going to enjoy some memes in a surreal way for our Online section. Following that, the Bollywood movies will be compared with the ones of Hollywood, and the reunion of the Friends TV show cast will be discussed in our Trivial section. Lastly, we will learn about the most straightforward ways of achieving inner peace in our Present and Chill section.

Lastly, we have some intriguing news for you! We have decided to take a temporary break with regards to publishing PRESENT in order to revitalize and further develop our content and the format of our bulletin. However, fret not, we will reintroduce our bulletin with the start of the academic year, along with some changes as promised! Do not forget to stay tuned to our social media accounts as well as our website to stay informed on new developments.

As always, we value your feedback. Feel free to let us know about your opinions and suggestions via present@bogazicimun.org, and see you all when the leaves begin falling!

- Ümit Altar Binici & Mert Cengiz

Editors of This Issue