I do not know how academics working in private universities in Turkey approach this situation and how free or secure they feel to write and talk about this. But my experience of teaching and living in Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University in the last year showed me an extremely dire image of Turkish (state) academia: professional relations and working relations between universities are based on family connections rather than on academic credentials; the hiring process is based on friendships and back-scratching rather than on individual performance; the professors are obliged to teach according to the YÖK-accepted programs rather than according to their own qualifications; with some exceptions, the majority of students I had in Mugla (except the few international ones) simply refuse to study and even if they are in an international program where mastering English is a ‘must’ (since 30% of classes are taught in English) many of them cannot even speak a basic English (I have never understood how could they learn for their written exams).
Benim tecrübem bana Türkiye’deki (devlet) üniversiteleri hakkında oldukça korkunç bir izlenim bıraktı: Üniversiteler arasındaki ilişkiler akademik referanslardansa aile bağlarına dayanıyor; işe alma süreçleri bireysel performanstansa arkadaşlıklara ve sırt sıvazlamaya dayanıyor; akademisyenler kendi niteliklerine göre değil YÖK’ün kabul ettiği programlara göre ders vermek zorunda; bazı istisnalar olmakla birlikte Muğla’daki öğrencilerin çoğu ders çalışmaktan kaçıyor, İngilizce’ye hakim olmanın zorunlu olduğu bir bölümde olsalar dahi çoğu temel seviyede İngilizce bile konuşamıyor.