Why would the Rector of Şırnak University expose himself?

Reports based on social media posts by Şırnak University Rector Prof. Dr. Abdurrahim Alkış, which implicate himself and even serve as a form of confession, began about three months ago.

The first in this series was the report published on the Yeniçağ website on April 10, titled: "Scandalous rector: Insults to the TBMM and the Republic... He announced the names he would appoint before the process was over."

The report alleged that in a Facebook post on April 2, Prof. Dr. Abdurrahim Alkış stated: "Even if the useless, unqualified, hypocritical members of parliament in the TBMM who only raise and lower their hands bark and go mad, as the determined and resolute rector of Şırnak University, I will continue to elevate and advance our university with people armored in the garment of loyalty. I am not the rector of that sick, rotten, decaying order of the old Republic!"

As expected, the Yeniçağ report found wide resonance in digital and social media. News sites such as Odatv and T24 also cited the report. In a statement issued the same day, the Şırnak University Rectorate said, "The shared posts are unreal and consist solely of slander produced through digital channels."

Following this, Fatih Ergin, who signed the report, asked, "Produced where?" and published a "video recording" on X, which he stated he had taken from the rector's Facebook account. In his second post, Ergin challenged him: "I shared this video after my report because I knew he would deny it and claim it was 'produced' slander. This is my open call; let him sue me. Let the court examine the video. If it turns out to be fake, I will quit journalism! Challenge accepted!"

Of course, it did not stop there. In the following days, Yeniçağ published reports titled "Arınç said, 'Let the necessary action be taken'" and "Turkey is talking about Yeniçağ's report: Enginyurt filed a criminal complaint." These reports were also cited by other sites.

THE RECTOR'S CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

As the reactions continued in this manner, Rector Alkış also made a post, stating:

"He was saddened that politicians such as Bülent Arınç, Cemal Enginyurt, Yüksel Taşkın, and Gökhan Günaydın made statements based on reports full of lies and slander without feeling the need to obtain accurate information." Alkış repeated his defense that the post attributed to him was "produced through digital channels" and emphasized that he would pursue legal action.

On April 11, Alkış filed a complaint with the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Fatih Ergin and Yeniçağ, as well as Odatv and T24 for citing the report, on charges of "insult, slander, publicly spreading misleading information, and establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes." The criminal complaint stated, "The University Rector has been clearly targeted through fake Facebook posts, and his right not to be defamed has been violated." It was argued that "the content of fake accounts written as if they came from the rector's own mouth is mind-boggling and contrary to the natural flow of life."

The text of the criminal complaint, which was also sent to me, was highly exaggerated. It did not stop at the charge of "publicly spreading misleading information" but also mentioned a crime such as "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes." By making such accusations to respond to a news report, not only journalistic ethics but also legal boundaries had been overstepped. With this thought, I postponed examining the matter.

NEW REPORT, NEW ACCUSATION

However, Fatih Ergin, who wrote the first report about Rector Alkış, signed another report on June 30 titled, "New scandal from the scandalous rector: He filled it with relatives, said it was a requirement of my faith." This report, published in Yeniçağ, was based on a post allegedly made on Alkış's social media account, just like the first one.

The report, which stated, "While Alkış confessed that he filled the university with relatives as a 'requirement of his faith,' it also emerged that he announced who he would appoint in the faculty member advertisement dated June 17," also included the following sentences from Alkış's post.

"These seditionists do not know that helping relatives every Friday is a requirement of our faith because they do not go to Friday prayers. Helping my relatives and friends and bringing them to good positions is a requirement of my faith and is my right as Rector."

As can be predicted, many media outlets cited this report; Yeniçağ's report was published on dozens of sites. Upon this, the Şırnak University Rectorate issued a statement denying this report as well; it was argued that the report was "completely unreal." Furthermore, it was stated that the allegation of "nepotism" in the report was also untrue.

While the report continued to spread, Ahmet Hakan stepped in. In his column titled "The Şırnak University fabrication," he defended the rector, saying, "They do not verify. They do not bother to do even the tiniest bit of research."

Fatih Ergin, as he had done before, shared the video footage of the account that he claimed Prof. Dr. Alkış had deleted after posting. He wrote in his post, "Ahmet Hakan, who calls it a fabrication without doing any research and is the symbol of 'journalism as required' for the government, should also watch this."

IMAGE PRODUCTION THROUGH DIGITAL METHODS?

I looked at the Facebook account in the footage shared by Fatih Ergin, which was the subject of both reports. There is no such post there as in the reports. Either it was never written, as Alkış maintains, or it was written and then deleted, as Fatih Ergin claims.

Indeed, if Alkış made a post and then deleted it, it is not easy to detect.     On the other hand, the post for which Fatih Ergin published the video footage could undoubtedly be produced through digital methods; this is also possible. I think only Facebook can definitively determine which of the two sides' claims is correct.

In the profile of the account at https://www.facebook.com/abdurrahim.alk.s, where Fatih Ergin shared the footage,  "Prof. Abdurrahim Alkış Rector of Şırnak University" is written; it is noteworthy that it is not written as "Prof. Dr."  More importantly, this account does not appear to have been used actively. No posts have been made for years; only 10 photos have been uploaded; all of them are "profile updates." An account in such a passive state has nearly 5,000 followers.

There is another account on Facebook in Alkış's name; https://www.facebook.com/abdurrahimalkish  This account was opened during the years Alkış was at Dicle University, but it has not been used recently in 2024. The social media account where Alkış is active and makes current posts is on X.

WHY WOULD THE RECTOR COMMIT HARAKIRI?

Of course, when reporting on such a post, Alkış's opinion should have been obtained. It was also possible to report on or add his statements to the report by granting a right of reply later. But Fatih Ergin did not publish the response he received to what he wrote in its entirety.

The essence of the matter is the consistency of these posts, which are claimed to belong to Alkış, with the natural flow of life. There is no logic in Alkış announcing the names he will appoint in advance and writing texts that would put him in a difficult position with harsh expressions, only to delete them later.

If we accept these posts and therefore the reports as true, we must also accept that Alkış put himself in a difficult position and willingly gave material to his rivals. But why would he harm himself? Why would he commit harakiri and then deny it?

There must be another explanation for this...