Turkish students express outrage after another suicide on university campus

İzzah Elif Zamir Khan, a student of Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, died by suicide in her dormitory room. Students organized a protest against the recent increase in student suicides on the campus.

Tuesday October 31 2023 10:52 am

Students hold banner reading, "We do not want to lose another friend," in front of the dormitory.

Duvar English

İzzah Elif Zamir Khan, a fourth-semester medical student at the capital Ankara’s Hacettepe University, on Oct. 30 died by suicide in her dormitory room.

The university rectorate made a statement on X and said, "The judicial and administrative investigation into the unfortunate incident is being carried out by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office."

İlk tespitlere göre hayatına son verdiği değerlendirilen Üniversitemiz Tıp Fakültesi Dönem 4 öğrencisi İzzah Elif Zamir Khan hayatını kaybetmiştir. Sevgili öğrencimize Allah’tan rahmet diliyor, ailesine, sevdiklerine ve Hacettepe Ailesine baş sağlığı diliyoruz. Yaşanan talihsiz…
— Hacettepe Üniversitesi (@Hacettepe1967) October 30, 2023

Students gathered in front of the dormitory after the news of the student's death and organized a protest against the increasing number of suicides in recent days.

The group made a press statement and said, "We will not allow a single one of our friends to be dragged into the vortex of hopelessness and despair by this system. We will change this order."

Bir arkadaşımızı daha kaybetmek istemiyoruz! pic.twitter.com/WkCvY51TaM
— Hacettepe Dayanışma Ağı (@hudayanismaagi) October 30, 2023

Social media users drew attention to the stressful life of medical students and mobbing cases in hospitals.

Previously, a 21-year-old student at Central Anatolian Eskişehir Anadolu University on Oct. 15 died by suicide in a campus cafeteria.

Moreover, one university student died on Oct. 26 after the elevator fell in a state-run dormitory of the Student Loans and Dormitories Institution (KYK) in the western province of Aydın. Students have been staging protests around the country against the worsening living conditions of the students since then.