EU, international academics condemn detention of students
The European Union has condemned the arrest of two students in Turkey over a poster promoting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) viewpoints, the detention of hundreds of students who protested against the arrests and the use of anti-LGBT hate speech by politicians and officials.
In addition, 3,317 academics, thinkers and writers from around the world have released a joint statement condemning the actions against the Bogazici University students and calling on the rector who was controversially appointed by the Turkish president without an election to resign.
A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, in a statement, called the detention of student demonstrators and a decision by authorities to ban rallies around Istanbul’s elite Bogazici University “a deeply worrying development”.