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Students turned their backs in front of Erdogan-appointed rector’s office for 880th day — a routine protest that has been going on since January 2021.
Students and academics protested at Turkey’s top university Friday, defying a ban on the near 900-day strike imposed after President Recip Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected for five more years.
They turned their backs in front of the Erdogan-appointed rector’s office for the 880th day on Friday — a routine protest that has been going on since January 2021.
Authorities on Thursday banned any protest at the university — a decision that came after the veteran strongman won the election run-off on Sunday and secured another five years as president.
“The ban has no legal ground,” said associate professor Ahmet Ersoy.
“(The government) shows itself immediately after the election. We face a (police) operation now but we don’t mind it,” he added.
The protests at Bogazici University started when Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu as rector in January 2021.
Critics lambasted the appointment as an example of political interference in the Turkish education sector by Erdogan, who took the power to appoint rectors after surviving a failed coup in 2016.
In July 2021, Erdogan replaced Bulu and appointed Naci Inci by presidential decree.
That failed to impress the students and academics who refuse to recognise the appointed rector.
The protest on Friday ended peacefully.
SOURCE:HINDUSTANTIMES
