Prestigious EU scholarship becomes casualty of Turkey coup

Burak Bulkan, 24-year-old student who graduated from Istanbul's Bosphorus University, poses on August 23, 2016 in Istanbul. Turkey has cancelled a major EU-funded scholarship scheme after the July 15 botched coup bid, leaving in limbo dozens of Turkish students dreaming of studying in the European Union. / AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE

Turkey has cancelled a major EU-funded scholarship scheme after the July 15 botched coup bid, leaving in limbo dozens of Turkish students dreaming of studying in the European Union.

The scrapping of the prestigious Jean Monnet scholarship — aimed at helping cultivate pro-EU high-fliers in the longstanding candidate state — is one of the many side effects of the failed coup whose shockwaves have affected every aspect of life in Turkey.

Burak Bulkan, 24-year-old student who graduated from Istanbul’s Bosphorus University, said he applied for the scholarship and was offered places by universities including the London School of Economics and King’s College London.

Bulkan told AFP he cannot afford the British university fees without funds from the EU and needed a sum of around 20,000 pounds (23,000 euros/$26,000) to study.

“How many people in Turkey earn this amount of money in a year?” he said.

“It is very hard, not only for me but for many people. Those who can still go are reliant on loans.”

Early this month, the EU expressed “regrets” to have learned about the cancellation of the programme for the 2016-17 academic year — a decision “taken by the Turkish authorities without the involvement of the EU”.

The Jean Monnet scholarship, one of the most renowned and long-running programmes in Turkey, began in the 1990-1991 academic year providing scholars with opportunities to study in EU member states.

The grant programme, which covers tuition fees and living expenses, takes its name from Jean Monnet, a well-known French economist and a pioneer of the EU, who from the beginning of World War I had devoted his life to creating a united Europe.

A total of 226 people were granted Jean Monnet scholarship in the 2015-2016 academic year and at least 170 were expected to utilise the funds for the 2016-2017, EU officials said.

– ‘Extraordinary circumstances’-
The cancelation comes after the failed coup bid seeking to bring the Turkish government from power and blamed on supporters of US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whose influence extends to key parts of the Turkish state.

Ankara has pressed ahead with a sweeping crackdown on alleged coup plotters in the wake of the putsch attempt, with a pledge to remove Gulen’s “cancer cells” from the state institutions including the education sector.

Turkey’s relations with the EU have worsened drastically following the coup over the crackdown and it has also barred academics from travelling abroad on work missions.

Turkey’s EU ministry said on August 10 the decision to suspend the programme was made “in the light of extraordinary circumstances our country has been passing through.”

The ministry added the scheme was cancelled for the 2016-2017 academic year, and it was working to transfer this year’s funds to the next academic year to help more people utilise the education grants.

– ‘Strongest bond’-
Can Baydarol, an expert on Turkey-EU relations, said EU-funded programmes were a bridge between candidate country Turkey and the 28-nation bloc.

Baydarol said he believed the Jean Monnet programme had been cancelled not because of the EU’s alarm over the crackdown but because of the “uncertainties” inside Turkey.

“I hope in very near future this programme, the strongest bond between Turkey and the EU, will be reactivated,” said Baydarol, deputy head of the European Union and Global Research Association.

Disappointed like many applicants in Turkey who took to social media or launched a petition campaign for the restart of the scheme, Bulkan said he was looking at other options.

“I don’t have enough resources to study abroad on my own terms, so I think I will give priority to doctorate at my (Turkish) university,” he said.

“For long years we have been working to attain Europe’s standards economically, politically and socially,” he said. “We kicked away the chance with our own hands.”