Celâl Şengör

Ali Mehmet Celâl Şengör (born 24 March 1955) is a Turkish geologist.

He is retired from the faculty at Istanbul Technical University, Department of Geological Engineering.

Şengör is a (foreign) member of the American Philosophical Society, the United States National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

He is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Science.

He is a recipient of Gustav-Steinmann-Medaille — the highest distinction of the Geologische Vereinigung e.V.

Celal Şengör was born on 24 March 1955, in Istanbul, to an immigrant family from Rumelia.

After graduating from Robert College, he received his BS (1978), MS (1979), PhD (1982) degrees from the State University of New York, Albany.

He writes a weekly popular science column in the center-left daily Cumhuriyet.

He is married and has a son.

Celâl Şengör is vocal in his support of the Turkish military and the 1980 military coup in Turkey.

In a very controversial interview published on the website of Radikal newspaper, Şengör argued that the root cause of Turkey's political problems was the lack of an aristocratic class, which would lead the society in cultural life and politics.

According to Şengör, the Turkish military is the only elite class in society, and their refinement and education make them qualified for a rule.

Most controversially, he expressed his unqualified approval of every policy of the military regime between 1980 and 1982 in Turkey by asserting that being forced to eat excrement should not be regarded as torture.But later in his statement he stated that it would not be considered torture as it was not an ongoing action.

Şengör later apologized for his remarks and claimed that he was misunderstood.

In September 2021, a video of Şengör surfaced in the social media in which he discussed an interaction with a female student.

Several student groups viewed this interaction as sexual harassment.

Istanbul Technical University's Women's Union criticized Şengör for sexually harassing his student.

The Student Union also stated that they did not want Şengör to continue his duties and said, "We do not want ITU academician Celâl Şengör, who shamelessly told how he harassed his student, in our school. We will not host harassers and people who legitimize harassment in our schools."

Upon this, the administration of the Istanbul Technical University started a disciplinary investigation questioning all involved parties.

The investigation concluded that there was no evidence for harassment, no complaint against Şengör, and that there was no need of a punitive action.

Şengör himself has been often harassed in the social media by leftist and Islamist groups because of his avowed opposition to Marxism, "woke culture" and his atheism.

In 2022, he equated the biblical figure Abraham to a figure in a fairy tale and doubted whether he even existed which led to a prosecution by the Turkish authorities.

In H988, he received a onorary Doctorate from the University of Neuchâtel.

In 2012, he became a foreign member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.