Time to boycott on all campuses today: We march, the wind marches

University Students

We stand against the AKP government's long-standing regime of violence, fear and oppression. We dream of building our future not abroad but in the country where we were born, grew up and speak its language. We are tired of waiting for the ballot box every five years. Our diploma, which we have studied for years, is useless, our future is insecure. We take issue with those who allocate budget for the palace and its cronies by cutting everything from our enjoyment to our most basic rights!

Starting on 19 March, it was the youth who changed the direction of the wind. By putting forward the biggest struggle of recent years, we stated that young people have a voice in this country. We, the youth, who pioneered the process by creating an alternative to the regime opposition that locked itself to the ballot box, no longer obey!

With all our patriotism, we defended not only our classroom, not only our school, not only our future, but also our country. Because we know that what happened is not just an unjust diploma revocation. We also know that it is not an operation of corruption or terrorism. We are aware that it is the construction of a system in which the election, the ballot box and even more so the people are disregarded.

Yes, we defended our university. Yes, we stood up for our future. We were everywhere from Beyazıt Square to METU, from Çanakkale to Trabzon!

We listen to the call of our friends resisting in METU against this dictatorial regime that takes away our youth, our future and sentences us to poverty. We are going to an academic boycott across the country. We are turning our campuses into a field of resistance with solidarity committees and forums in faculties. We know that students who struggle will win. Today's resistance is tomorrow's freedom.

CALLS FROM UNIVERSITIES AROUND TURKEY

-Deniz from METU: METU has been the spark and the driver of the mass protests both in Ankara and in the country. We gathered together from our campuses, dormitories and homes. Our resistance is vibrant, and we are full of energy. Neither violence nor pressure can discourage us. Despite all this decay, despite all the oppression, we show the will to grow the resistance and the struggle for democracy from the streets. We are organising a boycott all over the campus. With all the elements of METU, students and academics, we put a stop to the coup d'état against the will of the people. We call all our friends to festivals, workshops, forums and actions.

-Sude from Istanbul University: With the detention decision, the response from the students was immense, when we came together, police barricade, which did not allow us to walk to the main gate, was demolished by the flood of students. The will we showed that day changed the course of the wind and called on the whole country to resist against this injustice. In the big Istanbul student rally, thousands of university students marched in organised corteges from Beyazıt to Saraçhane. Now it is time to show that universities belong to us, the students, not the government. Let's continue to grow our struggle on our campuses!

-Umut from Galatasaray University: Starting from the very first moment at our university, we took a collective decision with the forums and opposed this tyranny with democracy. We remembered the importance of acting collectively and how strong we are together. Since the first day, we have been meeting on our campus every day to contribute to this struggle and we have not stopped enjoying ourselves by singing songs. We are a part of the youth who have once again brought hope on this journey that overflows from universities to streets and squares. We call out to those who take our future away from us and think they are forcing us to go abroad: This country is ours!

-Zehra from Dokuz Eylül University: The streets of Izmir have been vibrating for days with the steps of us young resistance fighters. We are calling out from our university, we claim our future, we resist! We are raising the flag of Gezi; we do not allow this regime to ignore us! Today at universities, tomorrow on the streets, there is rebellion all over the country. Our struggle will continue until we see the light.

-İlkay from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University: By taking the protests at our university to the fields and streets, we broke the atmosphere of oppression and fear that the government wanted to create. We hear the call of our friends; we are also in the academic boycott. We are no longer afraid, we do not obey, we will continue to continue our struggle in a committed manner. We will be the builders of the good days ahead.

-Deniz from Eskişehir Osmangazi University: Every day we feel more and more how the current anti-democratic oppressive regime in our country violates freedoms and rights. Today, we can see that not only our individual rights but also the people who represent the people's will are subjected to oppression. As students from Eskişehir, we will not go to lectures for our democratic rights, and we will grow the struggle.

Source: Bugün tüm kampüslerde boykot zamanı: Biz yürürüz, rüzgâr yürür