This personal web page contains information on Erkan BAYIR, who is a "junior" undergraduate student of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bilkent University (Ankara/TURKIYE). Besides, valuable information on Human Rights & EU Club can also be accessed through this page.
Erkan BAYIR was born in Izmir (located on the West Coast of Turkiye) in March 29, 1985. Second son of a housewife and a chief commissaire, Mr. Bayir received his primary education in Buca Cakabey Primary School from Sept 1990 to June 1995. For secondary education, Mr. Bayir chose Izmir Konak Anatolian High School, to which he entered in Sept 1995 & graduated in June 1999. After his graduation from KONAL, he took the High School Entrance Examination, and among 500.000 participants he ranked the 22nd (and also 50th in the Science Branch); and he succeeded in entering Izmir Science High School, the leading institution of scientist training in Turkiye (at the tertiary level). Mr. Bayir's IFL adventure started in Sept 1999, and ended in 2002 with his graduation. During his IFL years, Erkan prepared a science project to the TUBITAK's nationwide Project Competition among high school students in Turkiye; and his project was supervised from 1999 to 2001 by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tayfun Dalbasti, who is a full-time faculty member at Ege University School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery. Plus, Erkan had participated in TUBITAK's nationwide Biology Olympiads, and attended to the Summer Camp on Biology in Bolu Abant in Sept 2001. Nonetheless, maybe for political reasons, especially under the influence of wellfunded religious underground organizations, TUBITAK did not award Erkan with a medal, which was crucial for participants to take an additional bonus grade in the nationwide University Entrance Examinations.
In the nationwide University Entrance Examinations of 2002, Erkan's original score (without tertiary education coefficient) was good enough for all of science and medical faculties in Turkiye, but in the calculation of tertiary education coefficient (AOBP) the Council of Higher Education used an unfair method that victimized Science High School graduates & Erkan -along with hundreds of Science High School graduates- failed to enter the departments he chose.
Surprisingly, the Minister of Education in the tripartite coalition lead by DSP (Democratic Left Party), Prof.Dr. Necdet Tekin has tried his best to change the unfair victimizer calculation method of AOBP, and in 2003 University Entrance Examinations Erkan has ranked in the top 1000 among more than 1.5M high school graduates in Turkiye and entered the Economics department of Bilkent University with full scholarship including tuition and accomodation with an additional monthly stipend.
After entering Bilkent Economics, Erkan BAYIR -along with his friends from the faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences- established the Human Rights & EU Club in December 10, 2003 and was elected as chairman of the club. This club aimed to create an awareness among Bilkent students about main human rights issues and Turkiye's EU membership negotiations. IHAK did not attract many students at Bilkent, but achieved unpredicted success among other student clubs in Turkiye.
In his first semester at Bilkent, Erkan achieved a Grade Point Average of 3.7 over 4.0 and decided to transfer to Molecular Biology and Genetics department at Bilkent in January 2004. His application was a painful process. However, his application was eventually accepted. In 6-Feb-2004, Erkan registered to "MBG" department, without losing his full scholarship. His first semester in the MBG department was difficult and his orientation process to this department lasted for a long time. The harsh competition among candidate scientists was a really frustrating experience for Erkan, starting in 1999 with his IFL experience.
Erkan's second semester in MBG department ended with a disciplinary punishment, as a result of academic dishonesty allegations. However, his involvement in social responsibility and civil awareness projects resulted in the cancelling of this punishment.
In the following semesters, Erkan did his best to increase his academic performance. In a very limited period of time he proved to be a high honor student with a GPA of 3.9 over 4.0 & in the meantime he continued to be a social volunteer in various projects in Ankara, Turkiye. Besides, his club activities were awarded with 'plaque' from a volunteer organization named Toplum Gonulluleri Vakfi -in cooperation with Uniaktivite.net. In October and November 2004, Erkan and his clubmates obtained certificates of 'Participatory Democracy' and 'European Union' from Ari Movement, an NGO working on human rights and European Union issues. In December 11-12, 2004 Erkan participated in the European Youth Summit in Istanbul, organized by Local Agenda 21 & Youth For Habitat.
On the March 2nd of 2005, Erkan applied for full membership to CHP (Republican People's Party), social democratic official opposition in Turkiye. Meanwhile, he got in touch with the MPs of CHP in Turkish Grand National Assembly - TBMM. Also, he took part in the nationwide Congress of CHP in November 2005.
In June & July 2005, Erkan took part in the Capital Internship Program organized by the cooperation of Turkish Parliamentary Union and International Republican Institute, and obtained a participation certificate. This internship program included the establishment of a Youth Parliament with approximately 110 young deputies from roughly all districts of Turkiye. Mr. Bayir entered the elections for the parliament president elections, and ranked the first in the first round, but eventually lost the election & remained in opposition. Following Erkan's efforts, all the commission chairmans were elected from left parties, namely the Center Left and Liberal Left, defeating the Center Right group and the Conservatives.
Erkan is currently a sophomore undergraduate student of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bilkent, and he is planning to have his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology or Political Science. Another option could be an M.A. and Ph.D. in again Molecular Biology and Genetics (or ... maybe Ecology). But Mr. Bayir's involvement in politics is increasing day by day and therefore he will synthesize his background in science and project performance along with his strong support in Mustafa Kemal Ataturk -the great leader of Turkiye- and his party CHP. Erkan Bayir is a staunch secularist & a loyal social democrat and thus he opposes the hidden 'Islamist' agenda of AKP -the Islamist party 'in power' in Turkiye.
Bilkent University Human Rights & EU Club, the club with an emblem of twelve stars surrounding a pair of scales, was founded by Erkan Bayir and his friends on December 10, 2003. The club includes a chairman as the president of the board of directors, the main functioning body as a decision-making council. There are three vicechairpersons, forming the Presidium with the chairperson. There is a general secretary responsible for mainly matters of keeping records, helping in activity organization, member tracking and other powers defined in the Charter. There is also a Club Treasurer, for financial issues. There is a Human Rights Advisor, for human rights issues; and also EU Advisor, responsible for EU issues and resources. There is a Chairman's Chief Advisor for the division of labor among other advisors and comissions. There is a Science, Culture and Administration Platform, for academic studies.