Turkey: Student Protesters at Risk of Prosecution

(Istanbul, February 18, 2021) – Turkish authorities have placed hundreds of student protesters under possible criminal investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. The students were arrested during weeks of protests against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appointment of an academic closely aligned with the government as rector of one of Turkey’s top universities.

Students and the academic staff of Boğaziçi University in Istanbul have exercised their lawful right to peacefully express their opposition to the appointment, which they regard as a move to impose government control over the institution and undermine academic autonomy and freedom.