The rector candidacy exchange

Rector candidacy no longer attracts interest.

Even during the period when all rectors were FETÖ members, other candidates would try their luck, and the place would turn into a fairground.

It didn't even cost anything.

One wouldn't encounter any expense item other than the tea and coffee you ordered during the propaganda process. 

Even if there were minor resentments, the election processes were quite fun.

Especially since the processes before the July 15 coup attempt were based on elections, intrigue was a dime a dozen.

Although there were those who changed lanes at the last minute, there wasn't much of a dramatic shift in votes within the main body.

The predictions made before the election would hold true.

Votes would gather around serious candidates.

Professors who wouldn't even get 5-10 votes would be laughed at under one's breath for their dream or ruse of being neck-and-neck, and to avoid hurting the candidate's feelings, people would say, "Professor, our hearts are with you," and send them on their way.

More focus was placed on the algorithms behind the alliances.

Gossip was the most fun part of the process.

Candidates knew that the group they were asking for votes from was the most sharp-witted segment of the country, and those who didn't know were put in their place.

Once, when the most brilliant candidate of the period received no questions at the end of his propaganda speech at the faculty of pharmacy, his complaint that "even at the School of Physical Education and Sports (BESYO) they asked questions" reached BESYO at jet speed, and the 15-20 votes he saw as a sure thing immediately shifted to his opponent, causing him to finish second in the election by 15 votes.

A single word, "even," cost him the first place he had in his pocket.

Mind you, the one who got the most votes wasn't appointed anyway.

A dimwit whose brother-in-law is still in prison was appointed with the cultist votes he had gathered by trial and error.

Despite having very few cultist votes, this clever dimwit, until he secured his seat, took the "even"-using candidate as his assistant to broaden his base, only to get rid of him shortly after.

Anyway, when you get into these topics, the story never ends.

Here is what I really want to say.

After the coup, when the President's instruction to "also appoint rectors from among the Atatürkist youth in place of the FETÖ members" was swept under the rug by his close circle, the field was left to crypto-FETÖ members once again.

Therefore, the number of candidates no longer exceeds three or five.

We don't even hear about the processes anymore.

And from what we hear, the "rector appointment exchange" that has been established is the final nail in the coffin.

It is said that for those who find a sponsor, a rectorship is guaranteed.