* Photo: Boğaziçi Solidarity
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
A group of students came to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan today (March 26) to support their 24 friends who were detained yesterday on the grounds that they were carrying rainbow flags representing the LGBTI+ community in front of the North Campus of Boğaziçi University.
While the detained students were expected to be brought to the courthouse today, the police intervened against the students who came to the courthouse in support and wanted to make a statement for the press. At least 51 students were still detained as of 6 p.m. today.
CLICK - Police detain 12 students for carrying rainbow flags
Students battered
Boğaziçi TV, which the students set up to make broadcasts about the protests against the appointed rector, announced that all of the students broadcasting on the channel were taken into custody: "Everyone broadcasting in front of Çağlayan has been detained! We do not know where our friends have been taken to, we will share it when we get information."
Gözaltı otobüslerini, hapis hücrelerini bizlerle doldursalar da o bayraklar açılacak! O gökyüzünde o gökkuşağı belirecek! Boğaziçi direnişi de LGBTİA+'ların mücadelesi de onurumuzdur. Ne işkenceyle gözaltılar, ne ablukalar bizi susturabilir!#ArkadaşlarımızaÖzgürlük pic.twitter.com/LRxiGWTFGd
— Boğaziçi Dayanışması #3 (@boundayanisma) March 26, 2021
Speaking to bianet about the issue, students have said that the attorneys of their detained friends have not been taken to medical examination and the students who were not handcuffed during the detention have been handcuffed after the medical examination.
On the other side, the students who were taken into custody yesterday for carrying rainbow flags have been referred to the Çağlayan Courthouse after giving their statements at the police station.
Journalist detained as well
Artı Gerçek reporter Yağmur Kaya, who was there for news coverage, is also among the ones detained in front of the courthouse. In the video shared by Kaya from the detention vehicle, battered and handcuffed students are heard to be chanting the slogans, "Human dignity will beat torture."
Çağlayan'da ne oluyor?:
— Artı Gerçek (@artigercek) March 26, 2021
▪️Dün Boğaziçi Üniversitesi'nde gözaltına alınan öğrencilere desteğe gelenlere polis müdahale etti
▪️Çok sayıda kişinin darp edilerek gözaltına alındığı basın açıklamasını takip eden muhabirimiz Yağmur Kaya da gözaltına alındı https://t.co/bshKL1rbBH pic.twitter.com/F2IsKHNqz1
'Our colors are ours'
Prevented from making a statement in front of the courthouse, students have come together at the North Campus and briefly said: "We are not going anywhere until our friends are released. The government has occupied our school. This is our school, we cannot enter the buildings in our school, we cannot walk in our neighborhood, we cannot have our identity and colors on us any longer. This place is ours, this is our will, our colors are ours."
They have started keeping watch again.
Kuzey Kampüs'teyiz, hiçbir yere gitmiyoruz! Arkadaşlarımızı istiyoruz!#GökkuşağımaDokunma#ArkadaslarımızıSerbestBırakın #ArkadaşlarımızaÖzgürlük pic.twitter.com/4MfpauXSr6
— Boğaziçi Direnişi #3 (@budirenisi) March 26, 2021
What happened?Prof. Melih Bulu was appointed as the President of Boğaziçi University in a Presidential Decree published in the Official Gazette on January 1, 2021. The appointment of Bulu sparked harsh criticisms among both the students and academics of the university as well as in the academic community. Appointed to Boğaziçi, one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, from outside its community, Bulu was a candidate for nomination to run in the Parliamentary elections in 2015 for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The students and several students' clubs of the university campaigned on social media under the hashtag #kayyımrektöristemiyoruz (We don't want a trustee-rector). The call of the students was also supported by the faculty members of the university, who released a joint statement on January 3. "An academic outside Bogazici University community was appointed as rector (university president), which is a practice introduced for the first time after the 1980s military tutelage," read their statement. Amid harsh criticisms of students and faculty members, Prof. Bulu shared a message on his Twitter account, welcoming his appointment to the position, saying, "We are all in the same boat." The students protested the appointment of Bulu in front of the South Campus of the university in İstanbul on January 4. However, the police intervened into the protest with pepper gas and plastic bullets. Next day, it was reported that there were detention warrants against 28 people for "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations" and "resisting the officer on duty." Later in the day, 22 of them were detained. 40 people in total were detained over the protests. All of the detained were released on January 7 and 8, 2021. The protests of students and faculty members at the South Campus of Boğaziçi University have been going on since January 4. Taken into custody over a picture of the Kaaba, a sacred site in Islam, with a Shahmaran figure and four LGBTI+ flags on its corners, two students were arrested and two were placed under house arrest over this picture displayed at an exhibition as part of the protests at the South Campus. On February 1, police stormed the South Campus and intervened into the students' protests. Earlier in the day, the students gathered in front of the campus for the protest. Police hindered the protest while also preventing the students inside the South Campus from joining their friends outside. With the 51 students taken into custody inside the campus in the evening, the number of detained increased to 159. In a statement released by the İstanbul Governor's Office in the early morning hours on February 2, it was announced that 98 students were released from detention. On February 2, Boğaziçi University students gathered in Kadıköy Rıhtım for another protest, which was attacked by the police with plastic bullets and tear gas. 134 people were taken into custody by the police. Two of the protesters were arrested by the court afterwards. On February 6, four more people were arrested and two others were placed under house arrest over their participation in Boğaziçi protests in Kadıköy. On the same day, Erdoğan issued a Presidential decree to open two new faculties at the university. In response to this, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform addressed an open letter to the "12th President of Turkey." A day later, student Beyza Buldağ was taken into custody for allegedly administering the "Boğaziçi Solidarity" Twitter account and arrested for "provoking the public to hatred, enmity and hostility" and "provoking to commit crimes" over both the letter and other Twitter posts. As of February 7, the Boğaziçi Solidarity platform announced that at least 560 students were detained, 25 were sentenced to house arrest and 10 were arrested. Students have been arrested on charges of "degrading or provoking the public to hatred and hostility" and "resisting to prevent fulfilment of duty" as per the Articles 216 and 265 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). CLICK - Why are 11 university students arrested? On February 10, one more student was arrested. With the release of Beyza Buldağ and Muhammed Önal on February 12, there remained nine students arrested over Boğaziçi University protests against the appointed rector. On February 22, two more students were placed under house arrest on the grounds that they distributed the letter of an arrested student to citizens. At their first hearing on March 17, 2021, two students of Boğaziçi University arrested over a picture on display at their campus were released. On March 22, three people were released. There have remained three arrested. |
(DŞ/SD)
