Turkish police on Friday detained a university graduate who tore up his diploma during a graduation ceremony at Boğaziçi University to protest what he called the injustices of a “despotic regime,” including the revocation of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s university degree, Turkish Minute reported.
Doruk Dörücü, a sociology major who graduated with high honors and is a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s youth branch, was taken into custody in an early-morning raid on his home, according to his lawyer and party officials.
During the graduation ceremony, Dörücü ripped up his diploma on stage and condemned what he called the “despotic regime” in Turkey.
“This diploma is null and void,” Dörücü said in his speech, adding, “I reject the diploma issued by a despotic regime that cancels the degree of our future president and arbitrarily opens and shuts down faculties. This regime can cancel my diploma and yours, shut down this department, even this school.”
Dörücü’s protest was a reference to the controversy surrounding Mayor İmamoğlu, who is also the CHP’s candidate for the next presidential election. He was detained and subsequently arrested in March on corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated. One day before his detention, İstanbul University revoked his 31-year-old diploma, effectively disqualifying him from running for office.
İmamoğlu is seen as the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and leads him in all polls gauging presidential election results.
The arrest of the mayor, who is currently in pretrial detention at Marmara Prison, sparked weeks of nationwide protests, with critics calling it a blatant attempt to sideline Erdoğan’s strongest electoral rival.
In his speech Dörücü also said he will only accept a diploma from Boğaziçi’s elected rector and not a government-appointed one.
Boğaziçi University has been a flashpoint for protests since 2021, when President Erdoğan first appointed Melih Bulu, a former politician from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in January of that year, and then Naci İnci, in August 2021, as the university’s rector.
Both appointments sparked protests and criticism for being undemocratic, as the university community wanted to see the university’s rector selected as a result of a democratic process rather than an appointment made by Erdoğan. They also objected to the appointment of figures considered to be pro-Erdoğan.
Dörücü’s detention was announced by his lawyer, Mehmet Can Seyhan, who said he was taken into custody “for tearing up his own diploma.”
Dörücü was subsequently released under judicial supervision, which includes a travel ban.
Güneş Gülaydın, CHP group deputy chair from the Üsküdar Municipality, condemned the detention.
“… We cannot accept the hasty detention of bright young people who dare to raise their voices against injustice. We will not leave a single comrade in the hands of this oppressive mentality,” he said in a tweet.
Özgür Çelik, the CHP’s İstanbul provincial chair, also said they are in contact with Dörücü’s family and closely monitoring the legal process through their lawyers.
“We are fighting against a rotten, despotic regime that targets individuals one by one for expressing perfectly natural and democratic reactions,” Çelik said on X.
“They are trying to create a society of slaves who cannot speak their minds, one that has succumbed to censorship and self-censorship. But our people will not bow to this tyranny,” he added.
Hundreds of university students were also detained and dozens were arrested during demonstrations protesting İmamoğlu’s arrest in March.
