Dr.Ayşe and liberal or left-leaning academics like, fail to understand that the mistake lies in evaluating the UK and Turkiye through the same categorical lens of democratic standards.
As most Western academic accounts of democratic history narrate it, the United Kingdom represents the beginning of democratic politics crowned by the parliamentary victory of 1688, and the birthplace of freedom of expression articulated by thinkers such as John Locke, Mill and David Hume. It is not only that. In debates on republicanism and democracy, Britain is also presented as one of the rare democracies that retains a monarchy while functioning as an exemplary representative system.
Therefore, this is not simply a case of comparative politics measured by V-Dem or Freedom House. At a much deeper level, Britain represents one of the sociopolitical ideals embedded in historical and institutional knowledge production in western sense. Consequently, Britain’s apparent failure in its confrontation with Zionist networks (assuming there is even a genuine confrontation at all) becomes a far more interesting and theory-disrupting case from an academic perspective. isn't it? :)
So, in very basic terms, why is it that in the United States and the United Kingdom, even prime ministers, presidents, and their policies can be criticized, yet criticism concerning Zionism or alleged genocide is often subjected to intense suppression? Is that not a highly intriguing case to look at in itself?
Turkey, by contrast, has long framed itself differently. Even during the periods when it defined itself as most Western, secular republican-oriented, the guiding slogan was “reaching the level of contemporary civilizations.” without addressing fully democratic standards rather only highlighting the cultural and economic modernization projects. According to your assessment, the current experience of the government and the trajectory of Turkiye over the last twenty-five years have long surpassed the liberal democratic goal, and the situation has turned into a complete disaster.
First, if one were to take almost any period in the history of the Republic, one would struggle to find a genuinely sincere orientation toward liberal democracy as such. One-rule period, late Democrat Party, 60 coup afterwards, Evren's 80s, chaotic 90s and its Kemalist military-bureaucracy clientage relationship-led to 28 February? Which one does represent the democratic trajectory? Would you like to choose one to compare with Erdogan "regime"?
Second, especially after 2016-as with previous radical system changes, the system that has been constructed does not possess a vision, a rhetoric , or an ambition of becoming one of the world’s rare liberal democracies.
Instead, currently it seeks to build a new conception of state and nation relationship that minimizes the secular-religious and Turkish-Kurdish identity divisions under the unified nation-building framework. Whether this project can succeed remains to be seen over time. But there is simply nothing resembling the picture can be compared that Dr.Ayşe and other liberal-left academics portray right now.
What you are saying changes nothing. The problem is that you seem to recognize only one form of academic repression: the repression of pro-Palestinian voices in the UK (and the US).
Those cases are real and deserve attention. But academic repression does not suddenly stop being repression when the targets are critics of Erdoğan, opponents of the Turkish government, signatories of peace petitions, academics, journalists, students, or protesters.
You are describing one form of repression while ignoring (or excusing) another.
Do you know what has happened to academics, journalists, students, and ordinary citizens who criticized Erdoğan and his policies over the last decade or so? Do you know what happened to people who protested the government’s continued business relations with Israel while keeping a fake pro-Palestinian facade? I suspect you know this perfectly well. Which is why your attempt to present Turkey as some kind of haven for academic freedom is so difficult to take seriously.
As for income, weren’t you a postdoc at Oxford and aren’t you now a full-time faculty member at Boğaziçi? Comparing a temporary postdoctoral position in the UK to a permanent faculty appointment in Turkey is comparing apples and oranges. Even then, claiming that academics generally enjoy greater disposable income in Turkey than at Oxford, given inflation, currency collapse, and declining purchasing power, is simply not a serious argument.
You can criticize the UK (and the US) all you want. What is ridiculous is using those criticisms to whitewash what has happened to Turkish academia.