By AFP 02 June 2023 | 3:05 pm Students and academics protested at Turkey’s top university Friday, defying a ban on the near 900-day strike imposed after President Recip Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected for five more years. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures during the 28th term deputies’ oath-taking ceremony at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on June 02, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) Students and academics protested at Turkey’s top university Friday, defying a ban on the near 900-day strike imposed after President Recip Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected for five more years. They turned their backs in front of the Erdogan-appointed rector’s office for the 880th day on Friday — a routine protest that has been going on since January 2021. Authorities on Thursday banned any protest at the university — a decision that came after the veteraqn strongman won the election run-off on Sunday and secured another five years as president. “The ban has no legal ground,” said associate professor Ahmet Ersoy. “(The government) shows itself immediately after the election. We face a (police) operation now but we don’t mind it,” he added. The protests at Bogazici University started when Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu as rector in January 2021. Bulu ran as a candidate in the 2015 election for Erdogan’s ruling party. Critics lambasted the appointment as an example of political interference in the Turkish education sector by Erdogan, who took the power to appoint rectors after surviving a failed coup in 2016. In July 2021, Erdogan replaced Bulu and appointed Naci Inci by presidential decree. That failed to impress the students and academics who refuse to recognise the appointed rector. The protest on Friday ended peacefully. “We use our rights defined by the constitutional law. We have been making a quite peaceful, symbolic protest silently,” Ersoy said. Many Turks saw the rector’s appointment and government reaction as part of Erdogan’s wider push into seizing control of different parts of Turks’ daily lives. Latest 43 mins ago Sets aside Commission’s invitation to past, serving Zamfara officials A Federal High Court, sitting in Gusau, Zamfara State has declared that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission does not have the powers to invite (by letters, telephone calls or any other means of communication) serving and past officials of the Zamfara State Government for the… 47 mins ago Maison Martell and Davido are toasting their long-standing friendship with the release of an Exclusive Blend, a prestigious, bespoke cognac created for Davido by Martell Cellar Master Christophe Valtaud, to celebrate the continuation of their partnership. 55 mins ago Tein Jack-Rich, the frontline presidential aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has congratulated Sen. George Akume and Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, over their appointments as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and Chief of Staff (COS) to the President respectively. Akume and Gbajabiamila’s appointments were announced on Friday by President… 1 hour ago The Lamidi Apapa faction of Labour Party (LP) has asked the presidential candidate of the party, Peter Obi to step down his case at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT), noting that he (Obi) is not showing any seriousness. 1 hour ago Symbols of consolation, they had, by their deeds across time, reverently and consistently lifted the banners of genuine brotherhood, business integrity, dexterity, true statesmanship, exemplary industry, perseverance, and every other value of importance. And by a mixture of sheer grit and hard work, while steering their business brands, they became creators of employment, bastions of…
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