'We are not afraid': Turkish students detained after another day of protests against President

 | Updated: Mar 26, 2021, 08:53 PM IST

Anti-riot police officers came heavily guarded and detained dozens of students protesting against Erdogan's choice of the new university rector

Dozens of students were detained by Turkey Police on Friday for protesting against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a party loyalist as the head of a top Istanbul university.

Dozens of students were detained by Turkey Police on Friday for protesting against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a party loyalist as the head of a top Istanbul university.

(Photograph:AFP)

The detainment took place as hundreds of people gathered to protest against the appointment of Melih Bulu as the rector of the elite Bogazici University

The detainment took place as hundreds of people gathered to protest against the appointment of Melih Bulu as the rector of the elite Bogazici University. These protests have been ongoing since January.

(Photograph:AFP)

After police detained demonstrators, dozens of protesters gathered outside Istanbul's main court on Friday in a show of support for friends

After police detained demonstrators, dozens of protesters gathered outside Istanbul's main court on Friday in a show of support for friends who were detained for displaying a rainbow flag during another demonstration the day before.

(Photograph:AFP)

The area was then immediately cordoned off by the police in a bid to stop the students from making a statement to the press

The area was then immediately cordoned off by the police in a bid to stop the students from making a statement to the press. The police eventually moved in, wrestling some of the students to the ground as they rounded them up before putting them on a waiting bus.

(Photograph:AFP)
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"We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey," the students chanted as the police moved in. "The rector will leave but we will stay."

"We are not silent, we are not afraid, we do not obey," the students chanted as the police moved in. "The rector will leave but we will stay."

The students describe this move as Erdogan's broader effort to centralise control over universities.

(Photograph:AFP)

The demonstrations have increased since Bogazici University's LGBT Club was disbanded after protesters hung a poster near Bulu's office depicting Islam's holiest site in Mecca draped in LGBT imagery in late January.

The demonstrations have increased since Bogazici University's LGBT Club was disbanded after protesters hung a poster near Bulu's office depicting Islam's holiest site in Mecca draped in LGBT imagery in late January.

(Photograph:AFP)