Turkish student is exposed to discrimination because of Sweden’s NATO bid, reveals TRT World
ISTANBUL
A professor from Stockholm University prevented a Turkish student from participating in an internship program because of Sweden’s NATO bid, TRT World revealed.
TRT World, the English-language news channel of public broadcaster TRT, obtained access to the email from Per Carlbring, who heads a clinical psychology research group at the university.
Fatma Zehra S., a third-year student studying psychology at Istanbul’s Ibn Haldun University, was accepted by an Erasmus+ fund for a summer 2023 internship at a university of her choice.
One of the internships she applied for was at Stockholm University in Sweden. On November 23, Fatma sent an email to Carlbring and asked to participate in a research project led by him.
A few hours later, Carlbring replied: “I would like to receive you. But since Turkey does not allow Sweden to join NATO, I have to say no. Sorry!”
Fatma told TRT World, “After receiving this answer, I was simply shocked. It took me a long time to process it.”
“We receive many requests from students who are interested in visiting us as research trainees. We cannot accommodate everyone, but expect every request to be answered in a professional manner, says Fredrik Jonsson, Head of the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University, to TRT World.
“In this case, as soon as we became aware of this issue, we acted and have dealt with it according to our procedures,” he added.
Meanwhile, TRT World said Carlbring did not respond to its request for comment.
It could be the “tip of the iceberg”
Fatma registered a formal complaint, believing that this incident could only be the “tip of the iceberg”.
“If he did this to me, he would do this to other students of different racial backgrounds applying to the university,” she said.
The Turkish student filed a discrimination complaint with the university on December 5, describing the professor’s response as “based on political considerations” and “discriminatory if not downright racist.”
“Mixing a simple citizen and student – who wants to continue her studies under the best possible conditions – with the political stance of the government of the country she comes from is a notorious way of thinking and judging her competence and character,” Fatma wrote in her writing . complaint.
On December 6, she received a reply from the deputy head of the psychology department, Torun Lindholm Ojmyr, apologizing for what happened.
Ojmyr said Carlbring admitted his behavior was inappropriate and wrong, adding “several active measures are planned in the department going forward,” including “education on equal terms and the Swedish discrimination law.”
Fatma thinks it is not enough. “What I wanted them to do is take active action about his behavior.”
“Childish, racist behavior”
Fatma said she has yet to receive a formal apology from the professor himself.
“At this point I was hoping he would send me an apology, but he hasn’t, and I’m disappointed about that.
“I find this behavior childish, racist and really inappropriate. I’m mentally strong, but other students who have insecurities about applying to different programs won’t be able to recover from such a response,” she said.
Despite the incident, her application was accepted by another psychology professor at the same university, Fatma said, as she plans to continue her internship this summer.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – expressed objections, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups, including the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Last June, Turkey and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum at a NATO summit in Madrid to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
FETO orchestrated a defeated coup in Türkiye on July 15, 2016, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 injured. Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.