Neo-liberal Transformation in Turkish Higher Education System: A New Story of a Turning Point: Draft Proposition on the Higher Education Law

Neo-liberal policies have been affecting in waves all public services in Turkey since 1980s. The most affected institutions in this process were education in general and the higher education institutions in particular. This article consists of two dimensions. In the first dimension, the process, in which the neo-liberal policies started with a breeze in 1980s, but got stronger and stronger in every decade and became a storm to destroy the public space in many parts of the world, will be examined in the context of Turkish and higher education policies. In the second dimension, the focus will be on the attempted changes on the draft proposition of the higher education law which was shared with the public in 2012 and was on the agenda for a considerably long time. The basic assumption of the study is that this draft formed the second most important step of the neo-liberal transformation in the Turkish higher education system, and was actually the shaping of the process into flesh and bones which started in 1980s. Also, this process shows similarities with the countries where neo-liberal policies are implemented, and a common language is used in the destruction of the public space.