We resist the YÖK, even after 44 years
University students took to the streets on the 44th anniversary of the YÖK's establishment, demanding an end to this system, which is a product of the coup. The students, who demanded the right to speak and democratic governance, called for the struggle to be intensified.
News Centre
University students took to the streets on the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the Higher Education Council (YÖK). Students organised protests, emphasising that YÖK, a product of the 12 September coup, has opened universities to the market and the control of the ruling power.
Ankara University students gathered at the Tandoğan Campus and unfurled a banner reading, ‘YÖK, trustees, police, fascist gangs: This siege will be broken!’ Marching with slogans, the students reiterated their demands for free, democratic, and autonomous universities. Despite being surrounded by police and facing numerous obstacles, the students carried out their protest.
THEY MARCHED TO BEYAZIT
University students were also on the streets in Istanbul. Gathering in front of the tradesmen's canteen, the starting point of the protests on 19 March, the students marched to Beyazıt Square with the slogan ‘Fight against YÖK, trustees and gang rule’. The press statement included the following remarks: The bill for the 12 September fascist military coup against youth was YÖK. YÖK was established on 6 November 1981 with the aim of shaping universities according to the needs of capital, bringing youth under complete control, and seizing their hard-won democratic rights. Although 44 years have passed since the establishment of YÖK, YÖK and the YÖK system continue to exist today with the same objectives.‘
The statement pointed out that the YÖK system has materialised with the AKP-MHP regime, saying, "All our rights, our freedom and our future are being attacked step by step by this repressive regime. Our right to equal, free, scientific and mother-tongue education is being disregarded, and universities are being turned into commercial enterprises and students into customers in line with the demands of capital and the political regime."
IMPOSING A FUTURELESSNESS
The press statement emphasised that the political power has usurped their right to speak, stating: "Through trustees, they are implementing their own reactionary ideology and neoliberal attacks in universities, imposing a bleak future on the youth. Not only our right to education, but also our rights to accommodation, food and transport, which are ancillary to education, are being usurped by the attacks of the market-oriented fascist regime. We will liberate the universities and intensify the struggle. On the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the Higher Education Council (YÖK), we once again call on everyone to step up organised resistance against YÖK, the trustees and the gangster regime. YÖK will fall, the police will leave, and the universities will be liberated with us!"
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled 44 yıl geçse de YÖK’e direneceğiz, published in BirGün newspaper on November 7, 2025.
