The European Union said on Thursday the detention of student protestors in Turkey was “deeply worrying”.
Students at Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University have led protests against Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appointment of a close ally to head the prestigious academic institution.
But more than a hundred protestors have been detained and their demonstrations banned under COVID-19 restrictions, with reports of students being mistreated, including beaten, in police custody.
The EU said the students were “exercising their legitimate right to freedom of assembly” and that the pandemic should not be used a justification to “silence critical voices”.
The Turkish government has sought to repair relations with the EU in recent months after a period of escalating tensions saw the bloc impose sanctions on Turkish entities accused of violating the maritime borders of member states Greece and Cyprus during explorations for hydrocarbons.
In January, Erdoğan said Turkey continued to see its future in Europe, sentiments echoed by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in recent meetings with EU leaders in Brussels.
But the EU said the crackdown on student protestors “goes against the authorities’ stated commitment to reforms towards EU values and standards”.
Hate speech used by Turkish government officials against the students was also “unacceptable,” the EU said.
Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has repeatedly referred to the protestors as “LGBT deviants”.
Ahval