Students are the nightmare of the Palace

Politics Service

Across the country, the youth who have been at the forefront of the opposition to the Palace regime continue to express the wave of rebellion they sparked after the 19 March Palace coup in different forms.

As young people coming together against the regime become political subjects, they are collectively reacting to the regime’s policies through the grounds of struggle they have created in universities. In response to the repressive policies of the ruling bloc, students have also raised their voices through joint struggles, playing a role in the repeated surfacing of the anger that has built up against the regime over the years. Within the span of a week, young people who gathered against poverty, reactionism and injustice showed through actions organised in their schools that they are the true subjects, confronting the regime’s representatives directly.

Finally, the previous evening at Boğaziçi University, the Islamic Studies Club (BİSAK) organised an event titled "Islamic Sciences: For Whom, For How Much?" event at Boğaziçi University, where Nureddin Yıldız, who defends the right to marry a 6-year-old child, was scheduled to be a guest speaker. At the end of the police intervention, 97 people were detained and 82 students were released after their statements at the police station. Of the 15 students who were referred to the court yesterday, 4 were released with judicial control conditions while 6 students were arrested on the charge of “resisting to prevent the execution of duty”.

The most striking thing that emerged from the action was once again the organised power of the students.

In the protests that started in front of the North Pyramid on the campus, students exposed the reactionary policies of the government and chanted ‘Universities are ours’ slogans against the hosting of Yıldız at the university. The students opened banners reading ‘Boğaziçi is not the backyard of the government’, ‘There is no place in our university for the mentality that legitimises male violence and abuse’ and marched chanting ‘Nureddin get out, these campuses are ours’, ‘No passage to sharia, fascism and darkness’.

During the event, a student in the classroom protested by throwing an egg at Nureddin Yıldız. At the same time, a group of students demonstrated in favour of Nureddin Yıldız in front of the university, but after a while the students wanted to march and riot police arrived to the area. Upon the arrival of the riot police, the students chanted slogans such as ‘Where were the police when women were dying?’, ‘We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey’. From time to time there were scuffles between the police and the students. In the following minutes, the police blockaded the students and detained some of them, including T24 reporter Can Öztürk, who was handcuffed behind his back.

THIS COUNTRY IS OURS, WE WON'T LEAVE IT TO BIGOTS AND FASCISTS

The students, who did not leave their friends who were brought to the courthouse yesterday alone, protested in front of Çağlayan Courthouse chanting ‘This country is ours, we won't leave it to bigots and fascists’. In the press statement made in front of the courthouse, the police intervention and detentions at Boğaziçi University were protested.

LONG LIVE STUDENT SOLIDARITY

The following demands were expressed in the press statement: Immediate release of all our detained friends and all political prisoners. We don't want armed police at universities! The police blockade must be lifted. Police officers who tortured our friends should be brought to justice. We want our friends who protected the will of the students in Maçka to be tried without arrest. The statement ended with "We will continue our struggle until we get our friends. Long live student solidarity!"

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NO PASSAGE TO REACTIONISM IN SCHOOLS

Bogazici University students also received statements of support from other universities. Students of Yıldız Technical University made a statement in solidarity with their colleagues at Boğaziçi University.

"The universities of this country rise on the shoulders of students who pursue science, equality and freedom. There is no passage for reaction in our universities."

Yeditepe University students also organised a demonstration on campus with a banner reading "No passage to darkness on our campuses".

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İSTANBUL GOVERNOR GÜL'S UNPROVABLE CLAIM

İstanbul Governor Davut Gül quoted the message of journalist Murat Ağırel, who announced the intervention against the students on his social media account. Gül claimed that 13 police officers were injured as a result of the physical intervention of the students by falling into a construction pit about 5 metres deep. While no photographs of Gül's claim were revealed, social media reacted against Gül. The alleged 5-metre pit where the police officers were injured was captured on social media with this photo.

THEY DIDN'T LET HIM INTO THE UNIVERSITY

The Finance Summit held recently at Boğaziçi University was also protested by students. Upon learning that Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek would attend the summit, students called for action on campus. Raising their voices against the regime’s economic policies, young people marched with slogans such as “Boğaziçi won’t flash lightning in Hisar” and “Universities are ours and will be liberated with us.”

Police intervened in the march, placing students under blockade. During the protest, students held a banner reading “Şimşek get out, universities are ours.” As students broke through the blockade and continued their protest, Şimşek was removed from the programme due to growing backlash.

BİNALİ YILDIRIM ATTENDED UNDER A FALSE NAME

At Yeditepe University, former AKP Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım took part as a speaker in the 1st International Law Congress of Turkic States, organised by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). It was alleged that Yıldırım’s attendance was not announced in advance and that students from a Turkish Language and Literature course were taken to the event as part of their class. Students had previously criticised Ecem Elif Ünal, from Yeditepe University’s Turkish History and Culture Research Centre, for sharing photos with MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli and Binali Yıldırım.

Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled Öğrenciler Saray’ın kâbusu, published in BirGün newspaper on May 15, 2025.