Uproar in Turkey after the incident – The Turkish channel TRT World published the dialogue that allegedly took place between the student and the Swedish professor
An uproar has erupted in Turkey after a Swedish professor at Stockholm University allegedly refused to accept a Turkish student for an internship under the Erasmus+ program as “retaliation” for Ankara’s negative stance on Sweden’s NATO membership.
The Turkish channel TRT World published the dialogue that allegedly took place between the student and the Swedish professor
TRT World obtained access to the email sent by the professor Per Carlbring, who leads a clinical psychology research group at the university.
Fatma Zehra S., studying in the Department of Psychology at Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, has been accepted for an internship in the summer of 2023 at a university of her choice under the Erasmus+ program.
One of the top institutions he applied to was Stockholm University in Sweden. In an email sent on November 23, 2022, Fatma explained her interest in being considered for a research program led by Professor Carlbring.
A few hours later, Carlbring replied: “I would love to host you. However, since Turkey does not allow Sweden to join NATO, I have to refuse. Sorry!”
“After I received this answer, I was just shocked,” Fatma told TRT World. “It took me a long time to accept that.”
Received a new reply from the deputy head of the psychology department, Torun Lindholm Ojmyr, on December 6, who apologized for the incident. Ojmyr claimed that Professor Carlbring admitted that his behavior was inappropriate and wrong and that “several active measures are planned in the department in the future”, including “equal education and the Swedish Discrimination Act”.
However, Fatma believes that these statements are not enough. “What I wanted them to do is take active action on his behavior,” she said. Discrimination education is fine, but how can it be measured?’ she wondered, wondering if it would be enough to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future. Neither has she received an official apology from the professor. “At this point, I was hoping he would send me an apology, but he didn’t, and I’m disappointed about that.”
“I think this behavior is 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 a response like that.”
Despite the negative experience, Fatma says her application was accepted by another professor in the psychology department at the same university, and she plans to continue her internship this summer.
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
