Investigation against Anyone to Inflate Balloons in Ege University

A series of disciplinary investigations were launched against 55 students in Ege University.

Besides activities such as gathering to issue a press statement, protesting the governor, making a press statement for Nihat Kazanhan, blowing up balloons, planting trees, and doing folkdances became reasons for investigation.

Engineering School student and Student Collectives Member Emine Akbaba who is under six investigations told bianet that even those who were not present that day at school are now facing investigations, and added: “It’s become impossible to breathe at Ege.”

Akbaba said they are detained after school following every demonstration, and that she herself was detained nine times in the second semester.

The students will submit their defenses in the following days. The Student Collectives will hold a “Science Fest” on April 20^th.

“They’re watching our every move”

School had been suspended for three days after the events at Ege University where student Fırat Yılmaz Çakıroğlu lost his life on February 20^th.

Resuming their education on February 26^th, the students had passed through the security checkpoints newly formed by private security guards at the gates by showing their student identification. Police tanks and riot police squads were on standby at school entrance points.

Ege University Senate had announced in their decision dated February 24^th referencing articles from Higher Education Law no. 2547 protests would not be allowed.

Akbaba said that their every move was being watched since the end of February.

“Body searches at the school entrance were abandoned after a while, but there are undercover cops everywhere. We hear their radios. At the beginning, they harassed us by saying things like ‘You’re Fırat’s killers.’ We exposed a police officer uttering sexist curses.

“There’s this atmosphere where you encounter undercover cops when you walk in pairs, and where they’re watching your every move.”

“Protest by way of inflating balloons...”

The students encountered the intervention of private security guards and detainments when they wanted to issue a press release about the atmosphere of oppression at their school on March 3^rd. Now they are facing investigations for wanting to do so.

The balloons they put up to lift this mood are one reason for the investigations.

“We the female students spent a lot of effort in the scope of March 8^th women’s day activities to break this mood and bring the school back to normal,” spoke Akbaba. She continued:

“We encountered the interventions of private security against our balloons. They kept popping them. It came to the point where when we wanted to enter the school with balloons, they would confiscate them as ‘offensive weapons’.”

The balloons featured in the investigation file as follows: “The protest of a 15-person group by way of inflating balloons, preparing placards by writing on photocopy paper of different colors, and sticking the placards on steel sheets and iron poles at the cafeteria entrance.” 

“Breaking the Pepsi cola fridge”      

After issuing a press statement on January 16^th regarding Nihat Kazanhan’s murder by the police in Şırnak province’s Cizre district, students had entered the school when police intervened in their demonstration.

In the call for investigation dated April 4^th into this event, the students were claimed to have damaged their surroundings, such as by “breaking the Pepsi cola fridge”.

“Planting trees, clapping along, doing folkdances”

Another activity on March 10^th featuring plating trees in the Humanities School and doing folkdances was also included in the investigation:

“Protest by way of planting trees in soil without permission, clapping rhythmically, coming over to outside the section closed off with steel sheets and staging a sitting protest, doing folkdances and shouting slogans…” (BK/PU)

Click here to read this article in Turkish.