Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Tuesday slammed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, describing him as someone whose political ambition and grudges know no bounds, the T24 news website reported.
Speaking during a press conference after Erdoğan at midnight ordered the closure of a university in İstanbul with links to him, Davutoğlu said that with this decision Erdoğan will go down in history as a politician who shut down a university.
The private İstanbul Şehir University was established in 2008 by a foundation whose founders included Davutoğlu. The university became mired in controversy after Davutoğlu resigned from Erdoğan’s ruling party last September and established a new political party to rival his former ally’s 17-year rule.
The university first had its assets frozen late last year when an İstanbul court ruled against it in a dispute with the state-owned Halkbank over payments.
Subsequently, its control was transferred to Marmara University in December, and the foundation that established the university was taken over by government-appointed trustees.
Davutoğlu called the allegations surrounding the university a hoax. “Erdoğan knows very well that they aren’t true,” he said.
“It is Erdoğan who withholds funding from universities while giving generously to football clubs and contractors,” Davutoğlu said.