University students took to the streets across Türkiye on Thursday to condemn Israel’s war on Gaza and support pro-Palestinian protests in the United States, Israel’s top supplier of military aid.
Demonstrations that started at Columbia University in New York on April 17 quickly spread across other campuses around the country, including Yale, UCLA and Harvard. Students have either rallied or camped out in recent days to oppose Israel’s war on Gaza, demanding institutions stop doing business with companies that support the war that has killed over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7.
But the tensions have been mounting on U.S. college campuses as violent law enforcement crackdowns increased, with riot police storming camps, tearing down barricades and tents, firing tear gas and stun grenades to dismantle the camps and making indiscriminate arrests.
The movement has since caught international support, with colleges around the globe staging rallies in solidarity with U.S. students and academics.
Naci Inci, rector of Istanbul's esteemed Boğaziçi University, was among the first academics to support the U.S. campus rallies and condemn the arrest of a professor at Emory University.
“This troubled incident not only raises grave concerns about the state of academic freedom but also overshadows the reputation of respectable academic institutions,” Inci said on X after police threw to the ground and handcuffed economics professor Caroline Fohlin at the school’s pro-Palestine protest.
Since last week, from the western port cities of Izmir and Çanakkale to central Konya, Kayseri and eastern Erzurum provinces, university students marched in solidarity with Palestinians and U.S. students, carrying placards and banners that denounced “the murdering of children in ‘self-defense’” and called for “action in the face of genocide.”
In eastern Bitlis, students of Eren University launched a 10-day sit-in protest on Thursday, declaring in their statement, “Zionists are systematically massacring not just a people in Palestine but all humanitarian principles and values. Under the light of the fire of resistance lit in Gaza, the world is witnessing the conscience of thousands fighting for justice against their cruel rulers in the U.S. We as university students salute all pro-Palestine rallies across the U.S.”
“Türkiye walks in unity with campuses worldwide for Palestine!” one banner read in a rally in the northwestern Sakarya province.
“The U.S. college protests against Israel have sparked the fire of a revolt around the world,” one student told Anadolu Agency (AA) in Izmir.
“We genuinely thank all our brothers and sisters in the U.S. who support this humanitarian stance at the risk of canceling classes, being discharged or even arrested,” Kadir Gülhan, a student at the Ege University, said as he stood with hundreds at the school’s campus.
In Aydın, students of Adnan Menderes University (ADÜ) “saluted the resistance” on campuses worldwide and condemned Israel’s attacks.
The demonstrators also lined up in ADÜ’s gardens dozens of children’s shoes along with photographs of Palestinian children injured or killed in Israel’s airstrikes.
“We will continue standing with anyone who heeds the call for help from Gaza with our ‘SayStop’ protests that we’ve held since day one,” student leader Ebra Abdurrahmanoğlu said.
Students of Adnan Menderes University (ADÜ) leave dozens of shoes and photographs of Palestinian children killed or injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza, during a protest in Aydın, Türkiye, April 25, 2024. (AA Photo)
In Eskişehir, the head of Eskişehir Osmangazi University’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) Club, Ömer Koca, argued the Palestinian cause has become a joint struggle of not just Muslims but all people who “carry a shred of compassion in their hearts.”
“That’s why students, academics in the U.S. and Canada protest genocide and condemn the tyrants despite the risk of arrest,” Koca said as he marched with his fellow students on the university campus.
“We’re calling on all of humanity, all institutions and organizations to stand for justice and help the victims, to stand against the crime of genocide committed against humanity in Gaza,” Koca said.
In Çanakkale, hundreds of students of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University waved banners that read “We stand with children and justice,” “The murderer’s fingerprint in Palestine belongs to Israel” and “Massacre in Palestine.”
“Israel’s expansionism has turned into a genocide that can only be described as a picture of shame for humanity,” a spokesperson for the group read from a written statement during the march.
“The so-called state of Israel, which so pressures ruling powers and international organizations through political, military and economic means, must realize its crimes can no longer be covered up,” the group said.
In Erzurum, students read out declarations in Turkish and English, emphasizing the “continued silence” of international organizations.
“We stand with the students of George Washington University in the U.S. and call on our fellow students and academics in Türkiye to stand against Israeli barbarity and Say Stop,” said Oğuzhan Öztürk, the spokesperson for Atatürk University protestors.
The students also hung up Palestinian flags on trees on campus and called for a boycott of goods of Israeli origin or brands that have supported Israel so far.
