Turkish police briefly detained two university students after they distributed leaflets calling for Education Minister Yusuf Tekin’s resignation, the Evrensel daily reported Wednesday.
The students, members of Emek Gençliği (Labor Youth), the youth wing of Turkey’s Labor Party (EMEP), distributed the leaflets outside a high school in Kocaeli province on Tuesday. Detained early Wednesday, they were questioned at provincial police station and later released after appearing before a judge at the Kocaeli courthouse. It was not immediately clear whether any judicial restrictions were imposed.
The leaflets, titled “How to make Yusuf Tekin resign in three steps,” criticized the quality of education, rising school expenses and concerns about student safety. They called on students to organize at their schools and coordinate nationwide demands for the minister’s resignation, citing student protests in France and India as examples.
The Kocaeli branch of Emek Gençliği said the students were detained on suspicion of inciting a crime over a passage in the leaflet referring to student protests in France. The specific criminal provision cited by authorities was not immediately clear.
The organization criticized the detentions, saying the distribution of leaflets was a legitimate exercise of students’ rights and that the police action was intended to intimidate young people.
Tekin has faced criticism from students, education unions and opposition politicians over workplace deaths in Turkey’s state-run vocational training program (MESEM) and school safety following deadly shootings earlier this year. Education unions have also raised concerns about overcrowded classrooms, inadequate cleaning and other poor conditions in public schools, rising costs for parents and curriculum changes they say place greater emphasis on religious values.
The incident came after two other university students, Nehir Dizdar and Nevin Tekin, were jailed on October 25 over a banner calling for the minister’s resignation ahead of his visit to an İstanbul high school. The two students, members of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), were accused of threatening the minister. They were released pending trial on October 28.
Four other university students were also detained on October 28 after attending a protest in İstanbul demanding the release of Dizdar and Tekin. They were released under judicial supervision, subject to an international travel ban and a requirement to report to police once a week.
Two senior editors at the opposition Sözcü newspaper were also briefly detained on October 27 over an article that incorrectly described Dizdar and Tekin as high school students. They were released after giving statements to police.
