147 writers express support for Boğaziçi: ‘We won’t look down’

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147 writers, including Elif Şafak, Orhan Pamuk and Zülfü Livaneli, have expressed their support for protests against the appointment of Prof. Melih Bulu as the new rector of Boğaziçi University by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The writers have released a statement titled "We won't look down," referring to a video where a police officer reportedly urged students walking towards the university for protest to "look down". After this video was shared, several people tweeted under the hashtag "We won't look down".

Accordingly, the statement of the writers has underlined that "the students, faculty members and personnel of the university have been using their democratic rights of protest, a right guaranteed by the Constitution, against the trustee-rector appointed to Boğaziçi University."

"We are watching the unlawfulness and pressure faced by them with sorrow and reaction," the statement has read further and added:

"The instruction of 'look down' given by the police to the students who were using their democratic rights openly manifests how the government, which is constantly talking about the nation's will, wants to govern the country and what it understands from citizenship.

"The hate speech by top public officials, labeling of students as terrorists, unlawful detentions and police violence is new evidence proving that our country has long been far from a constitutional state of law."

The writers have indicated that "they have seen that the people resisting for days have lifted the burden of dead words, brought the language back to life, washed away the rust of the domination and paved new ways for the country full of thousands of possibilities."

"We, as literary figures, join this festivity with enthusiasm," the writers have said and concluded their remarks in following words:

"We stand with the resistance at Boğaziçi University. We won't bow down to persecution and oppression. We won't look down."

The undersigned

A.Ömer Türkeş, Abdullah Yılmaz, Adnan Gerger, Ahmet Telli, Ahmet Tulgar, Ahmet Ümit, Akif Kurtuluş, Alper Akçam, Alper Beşe, Altay Öktem, Anıl Mert Özsoy, Aslı Erdoğan, Aslı Ilgın Kopuz, Ataol Behramoğlu, Atilla Dorsay, Attila Aşut, Aydın Şimşek, Ayfer Tunç, Ayhan Geçgin, Ayşe Sarısayın, Ayşegül Devecioğlu, Ayşen Işık, Barbaros Altuğ, Barış Bıçakçı, Belma Fırat, Betül Dündar, Burak Acar, Burhan Sönmez, C. Hakkı Zariç, Can Dündar, Celal Çimen, Cem Erdeveciler, Ceren Cevahir Gündoğan, Ceren Olpak, Çetin Yiğenoğlu, Çiler İlhan, Cuma Boynukara, Cüneyt Ayral, Deniz Durukan, Doğuş Sarpkaya, Ece Temelkuran, Elçin Poyrazlar, Elif Durdu, Elif Şafak, Emel İrten, Emel Kayalı, Emirali Yağan, Erdoğan Kahyaoğlu, Eren Aysan, Erendiz Atasü, Eylem Ata Güleç, Fadıl Öztürk, Ferhan Şensoy, Gaye Boralıoğlu, Gökçer Tahincioğlu, Gonca Özmen, Gülce Başer, Gün Zileli, Güray Öz, Hakan Bıçakcı, Hasan Özkılıç, Hasan Öztoprak, Hatice Meryem, Haydar Ergülen, Hayri K. Yetik, Hicri İzgören, Hidayet Karakuş, Hülya Deniz Ünal, Hüseyin Bul, Hüseyin Şahin, İbrahim Baştuğ, İhsan Oktay Anar, İlhami Algör, İnci Asena, Irmak Zileli, İsa İnan, Jaklin Çelik, Kemal Gökhan Gürses, M. Mahzun Doğan, Mahir Ünsal Eriş, Mahmut Temizyürek, Mehmet Yaşın , Mehtap Ceyran, Mesut Kimsesiz, Mesut Varlık, Metin Cengiz, Müge İplikçi, Mukaddes Erdoğdu, Murat Özyaşar, Murat Uyurkulak , Murathan Mungan, Mustafa Köz, Namık Kuyumcu, Nazmi Bayrı, Necmiye Alpay, Nermin Yıldırım, Neşe Yaşın, Nesimi Aday, Nevzat Çelik, Niyazi Zorlu, Nurcan Baysal, Nurdan Arca, Olcay Özmen, Onur Orhan, Orhan Alkaya, Orhan Pamuk, Oya Baydar, Oylum Yılmaz, Ömer Faruk Ciravoğlu, Önder Kızılkaya, Öner Yağcı, Özge Doğar, Özlem Doğan Kasırga, Pınar Öğünç, Rahmi Emeç, Sedat Yurttaş, Sema Aslan, Sema Kaygusuz, Semih Çelenk, Semih Gümüş, Semrin Şahin, Seray Şahiner, Sevim Korkmaz Dinç, Sezen Ünlüönen, Sezgin Kaymaz, Sibel Oral, Şaban Ol, Şebnem İşigüzel, Taçlı Yazıcıoğlu, Tarık Günersel, Tuğrul Keskin, Tülin Dursun, Turan Parlak, Turgay Fişekçi, Ümit Kıvanç, Ünal Ersözlü, Vecdi Erbay, Yaprak Zihnioğlu, Yaşar Seyman, Yekta Kopan, Yeşim Dinçer, Yiğit Bener, Yücelay Sal, Zeynep Altıok, Zeynep Oral, Zülfü Livaneli.

(AÖ/SD)