ISTANBUL (AP) – Turkish police on Monday clashed with hundreds of students protesting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a figure linked to his ruling party as rector of one of Turkey’s most prestigious universities.
The students marched to the campus of Bogazici University to denounce the nomination of Melih Bulu, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party who once ran for parliamentary elections.
The students see the appointment as a move by Erdogan to restrict academic freedoms and demand the university’s right to choose its own rector. They sang, “AKP, get your hands off our university,” referring to the ruling party. Several academics joined the protest.
Clashes erupted as some students attempted to break through a police barricade at the entrance to the campus, Birgun newspaper reported. Police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to break the protest. Several students were detained.
Ruling party spokesman Omer Celik defended Bulu’s nomination as “legal”.
“It is not a crime for a person to have a political opinion,” Celik told reporters after a meeting of the ruling party chaired by Erdogan.
On Sunday, Bulu released a statement saying that he intended to make Bogazici one of the best universities in the world.