Several detained at İstanbul Bilgi University as students protest closure
Police detained several students at İstanbul Bilgi University today during the third day of an ongoing protest against the closure of the institution.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the closure of the university through a May 22 decree, which revoked its operating license.
Following the decree, students and faculty members launched a sit-in protest, refusing to leave the Santral İstanbul Campus. University Rector Ege Yazgan visited the protest site at midnight, stating that efforts to ensure a smooth transition were ongoing but announcing that the campus would be closed.
Ill treatment allegations
This morning, a large police team surrounded the campus. A student solidarity network announced that police began intervantion at around noon and detained several students, subjecting them to ill-treatment.
"We have been surrounded," a student said in a video published by the solidarity network. "They pulled our friends by their hair and arms. We were all subjected to torture. Only about 10 of us are left. We will get our detained friends back, we want our school back."
The university previously announced that its students would be transferred to Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, which was desiganted as the guarantor for Bilgi University. However, some departments at Bilgi University, such as engineering, do not exist at Mimar Sinan, leaving the status of those students uncertain.
The closure
The foundation running the university had been managed by a trustee since September as part of the seizure of Can Holding by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in a large-scale money laundering investigation.
The university's license was revoked in accordance with Additional Article 11 of the Higher Education Law No. 2547, a provision allowing the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) to close a university if the quality of education at the institution is deemed inadequate and the "recommendations and warnings to remedy the situation" are not implemented. (TY/VK)
