Soylu says ‘no tolerance’, Governor’s Office bans demonstrations

* Photo: Dilek Şen - bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Governor's Office of İstanbul has released a statement about the sites for "gathering" and "dispersing" in İstanbul shortly after 159 university students were taken into custody at Boğaziçi University yesterday (February 1). With this statement, holding gatherings in the sites other than the ones specified by the Governor's Office has been banned.

The statement of the Governor's Office has not specifically referred to Beşiktaş district, where Boğaziçi University is located.

However, Kadıköy Rıhtım on the Anatolian side of İstanbul, where the Boğaziçi Solidarity has made a call for protest at 6 p.m. today, is among the sites "where protest demonstrations cannot be held." According to the statement of the Governor's Office, New Tuesday Bazaar (Yeni Salı Pazarı) area has been specified as the site of gathering in Kadıköy.

Sub-governor's office has banned as well

In a statement released by the Sub-Governor's Office of Kadıköy, it is also said that "all types of closed and open space meetings, demonstrations and marches have been banned for a period of seven days."

In the below tweet, the Boğaziçi Solidarity previously said, "In order to topple down the system of trustees, all together, one more step, one more step! We will not surrender to detentions, pressure or arrests!"

The Solidarity then called on people to join their protest at Kadıköy Rıhtım (Dock) at 6 p.m. today (February 2).

KAYYUM DÜZENİNİ YERLE BİR ETMEK İÇİN, HEP BERABER; BİR ADIM, BİR ADIM DAHA!
GÖZALTILARA, BASKILARA, TUTUKLAMALARA TESLİM OLMAYACAĞIZ!

Tarih:02.02.2021/18:00
Yer:Kadıköy Rıhtım#AsağıBakmayacağız #BogaziciSusmayacak pic.twitter.com/oFhym7RZkp

— Boğaziçi Dayanışması (@boundayanisma) February 1, 2021

Warning for Soylu's tweet

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has also tweeted a message about what happened at Boğaziçi University yesterday and targeted the LGBTI+ community. Twitter has hidden Soylu's tweet, saying, "This tweet has violated Twitter Rules about hate behavior. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the tweet to remain accessible."

In his tweet, Interior Minister Soylu used such expressions as "no tolerance will be shown to LGBT deviants."

CLICK - Two Boğaziçi University students arrested

The Directorate General of Security has also made a statement on social media about the allegations that police officers urged the students walking in groups from Etiler to Boğaziçi University to "look down", which has also caused harsh public reactions on social media under the hashtag #AşağıBakmayacağız, "We will not look down".

According to the statement of the directorate, the police did not say "Look down" (Aşağı bak), but said, "From below" (Aşağıdan...).

Referring to the slogan "We will not look down", the Security Directorate has defined it as a "sham slogan." (DŞ/SD)