ANKARA
Yucel Altinbasak, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey president, has decided to step down, Turkish Minister for Science, Industry and Technology Fikri Isik announced Friday.
According to Isik, Altinbasak had neither been sacked nor did he resign, but left as a result of an agreement.
“As a matter of fact, our TUBITAK president is a very good academic and he provided great services to the TUBITAK. Yet after some time and because of the allegations, an opinion was expressed about bringing in some fresh changes that may address the concern about the slow work at the agency; therefore, we talked about ending his duty in accordance with a mutual agreement.”
The minister highlighted that the research council was a vital agency for scientific and technical research in Turkey. “We reached this decision with Mr. Altunbasak in accordance with his own will and a mutual agreement.”
Altunbasak’s replacement is yet to be decided.
Previously, TUBITAK’s former vice chairman Hasan Palaz was detained as part of the “parallel state” probe late March on charges of “political spying” in a case connected with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The “parallel state” or structure is the name given by the government to an alleged group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police, who have reportedly worked to undermine the Turkish state.
