Istanbul University Students Released

One day after a police intervention on the campus of the Istanbul University, students from various organizations protested the custody of left-wing students.

On Monday (2 January), a group of students wanted to put up banners at the Faculty of Law for the civilians who died in the course of a military operation in Uludere (south-eastern Anatolia). However, a group of right-wing students tried to tear the banners down and tension developed between the two groups.

The left-wing students said that they had been attacked with sticks and cleavers. Students had told bianet that some of the left-wing students were injured.

After the clash, 23 students were taken into police custody, all of them from the left-wing group including journalist Cem Şimşek, editor at the Hayat TV news centre. No student of the other group was taken into custody.

A group of students, academics and relatives of the students in custody gathered in front of the university's main building on Tuesday (3 January) and protested the incident with a banner reading "Not a conflict between left and right but violence and police attack".

Ferdana Kösedağ, mother of one of the students in custody, recalled, "I saw the police on television attacking a student. I looked and saw that it was my daughter. My heart was about to stop".

"My daughter studies at the department of communication. Every morning when she leaves for university I am frightened that an attack might happen that day. These students oppose the commercialization of universities by the AKP [Justice and Development Party]. This is why others want to silence them but they will not fall silent. I stood by my child".

"Doors have X-ray controls, how can they enter with cleavers"

The students issued a press release and claimed that revolutionary students were attacked by "fascist students" under surveillance by the police and private security guards.

"Even though the revolutionary students were attacked with cleavers and sticks, it was them who were taken into police custody by the riot forces. Even students who were not at the scene were randomly taken into custody", the students criticized.

The announcement mentioned the X-ray equipment at the university entrance and reminded that people who wanted the X-ray controls to be removed because of a restriction of freedom became subject to an investigation. Nevertheless, the "fascist students" were able to enter the campus with knives and cleavers despite the security equipment, it was emphasized in the statement.

According to the press release, left-wing students are not safe on campus and neither outside the university premises. They only enter and leave the university in groups but the police warned them that they should not "walk like that", it was said.

"We are setting up tables from cardboard and posting banners and we are constantly punished. We are not allowed to open a club. At the same time, other students establish any centres they like and are able to hold their celebrations in auditoriums allocated to them by the university", the students criticized.

Subsequent to the press release, the students went to the Çağalayan Courthouse where their fellow students were being interrogated. The students in custody were released at 3.45 pm on Tuesday. (NV)

Click here to view the video of the press release (in Turkish).

*Photograph and video: Nilay VARDAR