Officials from the United States, the United Nations and the European Union have criticized Turkey’s handling of protests by students opposing the appointment of a government loyalist to head İstanbul’s top university as well as a series of anti-LGBT comments made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other officials while denouncing the demonstrations, The Associated Press reported.
“We are concerned by detentions of students and other demonstrators and strongly condemn the anti-LGBTQI rhetoric surrounding the demonstrations,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Wednesday.
The UN Human Rights office urged Turkey on Twitter to stop the use of excessive force on the protesters and condemned “homophobic and transphobic comments by officials, inciting hatred and discrimination against LGBT people.”
#Turkey: We call for prompt release of students & protestors arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations, and urge the police to stop using excessive force. We condemn homophobic & transphobic comments by officials, inciting hatred & discrimination against LGBT people. pic.twitter.com/EXF9RvMiyQ
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 3, 2021
European Parliament legislator Nacho Sanchez Amor also expressed concerns over the police violence and mass detentions and asked, “Does this reflect the new positive agenda and the will of reforms?”
For weeks, students and faculty members of Boğaziçi University have been protesting President Erdoğan’s Jan. 1 appointment of Melih Bulu, an academic who once ran for parliament as a candidate for Erdoğan’s party. They are calling for Bulu’s resignation as the university’s rector and for the university to be allowed to elect its own president.
Some of the protests have erupted into clashes between police and demonstrators, and hundreds of people have been detained, some taken away following raids of their homes, even as Erdoğan has promised reforms to strengthen democratic standards.
Turkey on Thursday rejected international criticism of its crackdown on protests by students, warning countries to stay out of its domestic issues.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement defending the Turkish security forces’ actions, saying there were attempts by terrorist organizations to infiltrate and provoke the protests.
“We recommend that those who … attempt to give our country lessons in democracy and law, turn the mirror on themselves,” the ministry said. “No one has the right to attempt to intervene in Turkey’s affairs.”
Tensions flared this week after a group of students were arrested over a poster that was displayed at Boğaziçi University which depicted Islam’s most sacred site with LGBT rights flags. The students were arrested over the weekend on charges of inciting hatred and insulting religious values.
The Interior Ministry announced Thursday that police detained a total of 528 people over the protests, of whom 498 have since been released. Of those in custody, at least 22 people have links to terrorist organizations, said ministry spokesman İsmail Çataklı.
[…] شده شد. نماینده پارلمان اروپا ناچو سانچز آمور نیز دارد بیان نگرانی از حوادث اخیر به عنوان سخنگوی وزارت امور خارجه […]