Police detained several students in morning house raids today following a physical altercation at the Middle East Technical University's (METU) spring festival.
The incident occurred on during a concert by İlkay Akkaya on May 6, when a group of right-wing students opened a Turkish flag and performed the grey wolf gesture while chanting "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal" targeting the singer. A fight broke out shortly after the demonstration.
After the incident, leftist students were subsequently targeted on social media by claims that they had "attacked the Turkish flag."
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an ex officio investigation covering allegations of "insulting the signs of state sovereignty," "qualified intentional injury," "threat," and "insult."
The General Directorate of Security (EGM) announced that judicial proceedings concerning the incidents during the concert had begun against six individuals identified by their initials.
"Our glorious crescent and star red flag is the greatest symbol of our nation’s will for independence," the directorate stated.
Before the raids, the İstiklal Kadınları Hareketi (Women of Independence Movement), a group linked to the anti-refugee Victory (Zafer) Party, posted on social media yesterday, "Expect news of detentions tonight."
Students dismiss claims of attacking flag
METU students issued a joint statement yesterday, arguing that the incident was being deliberately framed as an "attack on the flag" to mask a planned provocation against the student festival.
"The artist on stage at Devrim Stadium was booed by a group in a planned and organized manner," the students said.
The students called on the university administration to prevent actions that harm the festival’s continuity.
"The best thing we can do against these attacks is to embrace the tradition started by those who wrote DEVRİM on the stadium," the statement continued. "We must raise our voices in every field and say: The festival belongs to ODTÜ, and ODTÜ belongs to us." (TY/VK)
