Several days ago, protests in support of Gaza, which started at Columbia University in the United States and spread to universities in different states, continue while universities in Turkey issued a statement in support of these students.
The statement, published in Turkish and English on the official social media accounts of universities, included the following remarks: “For over 6 months, university students protesting the brutality aimed at almost eradicating innocent people living in Gaza have been subjected to violence. Protesters at various universities from Columbia University to Yale, from New York University to Harvard, are calling on their universities to support calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties with companies linked to Israel. Students are being arrested during the protests, and universities are switching to remote education to stop the protests. We consider the disproportionate response to the peaceful reaction shown by university students as a blow to basic human rights and academic freedom, and we express deep sorrow and strongly condemn it.”
Some university rectors also showed support for university students participating in the Gaza protests in the United States by sharing the same statement on their personal social media accounts.
So far, 25 universities have shown support for the cause. The statement was shared on the social media accounts of Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Amasya University, Anadolu University, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara University, Ardahan University, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Bartın University, Bursa Uludağ University, Dokuz Eylül University, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, Kahramanmaraş Istiklal University, Istanbul Technical University, Çukurova University, Gaziantep Islamic Science and Technology University, Iskenderun Technical University, Istanbul Nisantasi University, Istanbul Kent University, Karadeniz Technical University, Kayseri University, Kutahya Health Sciences University, Middle East Technical University, Pamukkale University, and Tarsus University.
It was mentioned that the support statement will also be shared by other universities in the future.