Inter-University council urges YOK head to resign

Turkey's Inter-University Council (UAK), an official platform for university rectors, yesterday called on Board of Higher Education (YOK) head Yusuf Ziya Ozcan to resign. During an extraordinary meeting in Ankara , the rectors discussed the issue of allowing headscarves at universities. A statement signed by 90 rectors and read out by UAK head Mustafa Akaydin said that Ozcan was incapable of representing Turkish universities. Instead of creating favorable conditions for university institutions to work cooperatively, Ozcan has erected an autocratic, centralist structure, the rectors said, and called on the president to remove him from office. In related news, the Ankara Prosecutor's Office launched a probe into Ozcan's statement that recent constitutional changes were enough to lift the headscarf ban at universities. The move followed several official complaints filed against Ozcan, one by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). A probe can turn into an investigation only upon approval by the education minister, Huseyin Celik.