Ömer Bozkurt
Barlas came to Galatasaray in the 1954–1955 academic year, as a student in the preparatory class at the Ortaköy branch. We probably did not have much contact that year. Those of us who had entered Galatasaray as seven-year-old boarding students grew up within a somewhat childish “esprit de corps”; since we could not foresee the close relationship that would develop among us in the future, we tended to see those in the preparatory classes as somewhat distant from us, as “Galatasaray students by adoption.” Moreover, classes generally lived within their own circles.
Then, beginning with the 1955–1956 academic year, we studied together at the Upper School until the eighth grade. I failed the year, whereas he continued and graduated in 1962. He completed his higher education in France, at the Institut d’études politiques in Bordeaux. He later completed his doctoral dissertation in Paris under the supervision of Henri Lefèbvre, one of the leading Marxist thinkers of the period. He received an outstanding education, both at Galatasaray and in France.
When I moved to Ankara in 1972, I found him working as an expert at the State Planning Organization (DPT), in the Department of Social Planning. At that time, the DPT was one of the most influential institutions producing public policies in Turkey. After that year, our close friendship continued for many years. At a certain point (probably during the period of the “takunyalılar”), Barlas chose an academic career and left the DPT to join Gazi University—then known as AİTİA. Progressing steadily through the academic ranks, he became a professor at the end of the 1980s. During that period, he worked together with Ambassador Coşkun Kırca on the founding efforts of Galatasaray University. After the establishment of the University, he became the Head of the Department of Sociology. At that time, at his request and insistence, I too began travelling to Istanbul once a week to teach the course “Les grandes doctrines sociologiques” at Galatasaray University.
In fact, the reward for these exhausting daily journeys, which began before sunrise and ended late in the evening, was, for me, first of all the morning classes with students—many of whom were exceptionally brilliant—which were themselves a reward. Then, before heading to the airport, there were the conversations I had in Barlas’s office, which at the time was located next to that of our first Rector, Professor Yıldızhan Yayla. Although these meetings were not particularly long, they were among the most cherished moments of my weekly visits.
Barlas’s office was the very same room that had once belonged to Mr. Saffet Rona, the headmaster of our primary school, when the Feriye Palace was our childhood home. In that office, before whose door we had once trembled as primary school pupils, our conversations—sometimes accompanied, I can now admit, by a glass of wine—became a weekly dose of Galatasaray happiness. It had become something of an addiction.
Barlas successfully continued his career at Galatasaray University as the Head of the Department of Sociology, after overcoming a disappointment that he experienced but easily moved beyond. Later, during my less frequent visits to his office in the annex building, I saw how harmoniously and joyfully he worked with the brilliant young academics and research assistants around him. My impression is that he was a well-liked administrator.
Throughout his professional life, he produced many valuable works. His first publications were studies he carried out while working at the State Planning Organization (DPT), focusing on the socio-economic development index of provinces and the urbanization problems of Turkey. Later, in addition to his research in the field of urban sociology, he also contributed to the field of theoretical sociology. He also prepared several textbooks and reference works.
Beyond his academic career, he made highly valuable contributions to various Galatasaray institutions, particularly to Galatasaray University. He was a brother of ours who was deeply devoted to Galatasaray; like many of us, he considered himself indebted to this institution and never hesitated to express this feeling whenever he had the opportunity. May he rest in peace.
Ömer Bozkurt
Galatasaray High School, Class of 1963