12/06/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
Riot police and detention vehicles were deployed on campus. Students were forced to cancel the march. Student groups stated, “What happened is not only an attack on the freedom of LGBTQ+ students, but on all of us.”
At Turkish-German University, the Pride March planned for yesterday (June 11) was obstructed by the Governorate on the grounds of a “general ban”, and the university was surrounded by the police. At the request of the university rectorate, riot police units and detention vehicles were deployed on campus; students were harassed and recorded by security officers and police.
Students who faced detention threats had to cancel the march.
TAU Queer Community reacted to the obstruction of the Pride March with a statement on their social media accounts. The community stated:
“On June 11, which should have been an ordinary university day, it wasn’t students in the cafeterias, classrooms, or open areas, but riot police units, detention vehicles, and police with cameras. Especially our friends who identify as LGBTQIA+ or are in solidarity were systematically followed, identified to the police by security officers even in classrooms, and physically recorded. The pressure was not only physical. With threats of detention, harassment, and cameras, every part of the campus was turned into an observation zone. The freedom of expression, the right to organize, and the demand for equal citizenship, which are essential for a university student, were openly suppressed.”
Stating “We do not stay silent against the oppression”, the community continued:
“But we do not stay silent. Because we know: Pride is not just one month; it is a struggle in which we must defend our existence under all circumstances. We do not stay silent against the oppression; we are on our campuses. We are stronger together. Campuses are ours; equality, freedom, cannot be silenced. We are here, we draw strength from each other. This campus is ours, this struggle belongs to all of us. This blockade will end, we will win.”
“It is an attack on the freedom of all of us”
University communities including TAU Women’s Community, TAU Music Community, TAU Philosophy Club, and TAU Social Sciences Club also released a joint statement regarding the obstruction of the Pride March.
In the joint statement, the communities said: “While our campus was surrounded by dozens of police officers, the fact that universities should be places of free and critical thinking has once again been ignored.”
The full statement reads as follows:
“Today, the Pride Month March planned to be held at Turkish-German University was obstructed by intense pressure, systematic surveillance, and explicit threats by police and private security units. Our fellow students who wanted to participate in the march were threatened with detention, followed step by step on campus, and had their freedom of expression suppressed. The bans imposed by the Governorate and the Rectorate were used as justifications to de facto abolish the constitutional right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
While our campus was surrounded by dozens of police officers, the fact that universities should be places of free and critical thinking has once again been ignored. However, we know that universities are not places to submit to pressure, fear, and bans. Students’ right to expression, identity, and existence should never be under threat.
We will not remain silent in the face of these pressures. We once again emphasize that no one is alone and that solidarity will exist under all circumstances. The Pride struggle is a human rights struggle. What happened on our campus today is not only an attack on LGBTQ+ students, but on the freedom of all of us.
As the undersigned clubs and communities, we do not accept the rights violations that occurred on our campus; we reiterate our demand for equality and freedom against all forms of discrimination, oppression, and violence.”
Tags: human rights
