Do Not Touch My Student

Many academicians coming together from different universities of Turkey had launched the "Do Not Touch My Student" campaign in order to draw attention to student prisoners and to take care of them. Tekirdağ Prison was the one with the most students under arrest.

Before the lecture, the space in front of the prison was circled with iron barriers by gendarmes. The instructors asked to see the students however the Tekirdağ prosecutor on duty rejected this request. A white board and chairs were placed in front of the prison. When the gendarmes didn't allow the instructors to hang "Do Not Touch My Student"  banner to the iron barriers, the instructors carried it during the lecture.

Before the lecture, assistant professor Bediz Yılmaz from Mersin University took the roll of the arrested students at Tekirdağ Prison.

Lecture: Ecology

The first lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Beyza Üstün from Yıldız University and she began to her speech by saying "We came here for our students under arrest. This is not their place, they should be at their classrooms."

A group of  'Tekirdağ Eğitim-Sen' (Tekirdağ Education Union) members also came to support the act.

Before this act, Prof. Dr. Nükhet Sirman from Boğaziçi University and Assistant Prof.Ayten Alkan had given lectures about social gender in front of the Bakırkoy Prison.

Postcards to Students

A postcard was written to the arrested students at Tekirdağ Prison after the lecture.

The academicians participating to this act were Gülşah Kurt, Zeynep Kıvılcım, Esra Atuk, Seçil Doğuç, Başak Demir, Bediz Yılmaz, Mehmet Karlı, Zeynep Savaşçın, Selin Pelek. (NV)

* This news was prepared by the members of The Initiative for Solidarity with Students Under Arrest.