Over 40 Boğaziçi students detained for protesting former pride flag detentions

More than 40 Boğaziçi University students were detained on March 26 in front of the Istanbul Courthouse for protesting the detention of their friends for carrying pride flags the day before. Ankara has recently issued sales restrictions on rainbow apparel on the grounds that the symbol "encourages homosexuality."

Friday March 26 2021 03:13 pm

Police officers scuffle with a Boğaziçi University student outside Istanbul's Çağlayan Courthouse on March 26.

Duvar English

More than 40 Boğaziçi University students were detained on March 26 in front of the Istanbul Courthouse where they had gathered to support fellow students who were detained the previous day for carrying pride flags.

Çağlayan Adliyesi önünde arkadaşları için toplanan öğrencilere polis müdahalesi: Çok sayıda gözaltı var! pic.twitter.com/DJaOGmQJrk
— Yol TV (@YolTV) March 26, 2021

Ironically, the students detained on March 25 had gathered at the university gates to show solidarity with a student who was facing disciplinary action at school as a result of their display of a pride flag during protests against the president's rector appointment to the school.

Boğaziçi University has been at the center of protests since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed party member Melih Bulu as rector of the prestigious institution in January.

The president's appointment was viewed largely as a breach of academic freedom, as the presidential decree bypassed elections for rectorial appointments.

Boğaziçi students have since been prosecuted for numerous charges, including some who were detained for creating artwork that displayed pride flags at Mecca, the Muslim holy grounds.

Police battered and detained dozens on March 26 including one reporter named Yağmur Kaya for Artı Gerçek news portal.

Erdoğan has been targeting the LGBT movement, saying it is incompatible with Turkey's values. He has been also comparing student protesters to "terrorists."

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's tweets were previously reprimanded by Twitter for containing hate speech against the LGBT community.