08/04/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
Students from Galatasaray University, Bahçeşehir University, and Koç University gathered in Beşiktaş to call for the release of the detained students.
Photo by: BirGün
Protests that began with the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu and his team continue with calls for the release of detained students. Students from Galatasaray University, Bahçeşehir University, and Koç University gathered in Beşiktaş to protest and demand the release of their detained friends.
A large number of students gathered in Beşiktaş and held a press conference, stating, "We are here on behalf of the millions who are being silenced across our country, and we are protesting those who tell us to obey." The students also called for the release of the detained students by chanting, "We will get our detained friends back. The streets are ours, the palaces are yours."
As reported by BirGün, key points from the press statement are as follows:
“We are here on behalf of the millions who are being silenced across our country. We protest those who tell us to obey. We are fighting against oppression, denial, and being ignored in the street, on campus, in the square, in the classroom, in the factory, and in every area of life.
We will not leave our detained friends alone. They are not in prison for committing a crime, but because they exercised their constitutional rights, raised their voices, and walked against injustice. The right to protest is seen as a crime in the eyes of the government; because for this government, protesting is the greatest threat. The judiciary is no longer independent; it operates under orders and is used like a club to suppress the will of the youth.
We will not bow down to this system that has taken away our friends' freedom! Our detained friends must be immediately released!
We will not surrender our universities to police blockade. Our campuses are spaces for free thought, scientific production, and collective life. However, every day, civil police patrol our campuses, and today, as we have seen, our friends at Boğaziçi University are under police blockade and are not allowed to leave the campus. At both METU and in the streets, students are being intervened with batons, gas, and water cannons. We do not accept these interventions, and we do not want the police in our campuses. Universities belong to students and workers, not to the police!
We reiterate our demand for academic autonomy. The will of science has been submitted to the control of political power, and it is under the control of YÖK. With the appointment of trustee rectors, the closure of clubs, and purges of academics, universities are being silenced, and the diversity of thought is being forced into uniformity.”
“We do not recognize the government's policies that target queer individuals and the terrorization of our friends”
In their press statement, the students also reacted to the government's hate policies and efforts to criminalize LGBTI+ individuals. The statement included the following expressions:
“We do not recognize the government's policies that target queer individuals and the terrorization of our friends! Under the name of 'Family Year,' our queer friends are being criminalized, targeted with hate speech, and pushed out of the public sphere.
Our bodies, identities, and existences are not up for negotiation! We reject the government's attempt to terrorize queers and declare this year as the 'Family Year'; we are turning the 'Family Year' into a year of resistance.
And finally: We are here against the government's efforts to erase us from the public sphere! We raise our voices against this government that seeks to make women, queer people, students, workers, the unemployed, and oppressed peoples invisible. We will get our detained friends back. The streets are ours, the palaces are yours.
We will not be silent, we will not bow down! The public space is ours, resistance is legitimate!”
Tags: human rights, life
