A democrat president!

On the arrival of President Gül to the university campus to attend the anniversary celebrations, a small group of university students staged a sit in bin protest of what they considered partisanship in the selection and appointment of new rectors to some universities by the president, chanting slogans against the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party, or AKP government. The students were shouting that day "Don’t leave your university to the AKPÉ AKP take your hands from universitiesÉ Universities belong to usÉ" and such slogans.Was there any violence? NoÉ Did anyone hurt, apart from those beaten up by the security guards and police? NoÉ Did the students engaged in any sort of disrespect Ğ which indeed they might do Ğ against President Gül? NoÉThat day the small group of protesting university students were first ordered by the police to end their sit in demonstration.

When they continued their protest the students were violently rooted out in the presence of news cameras; some of them (indeed three of them) were briefly detained but they were all released by the prosecutor’s office hours later and no charge was brought by the prosecutor against any of the protesting students.Though the police "operation" on the protesting students was rather violent, it was good that the prosecutor did not brought any charge against the students in consideration that they were exercising their right to protest. For a change the prosecutor looking into that case remembered that right to protest was a democratic right and could not be restricted orn prosecuted because a university administration, the government or even the president was unhappy with a demonstration. So far so goodÉ

Scholarships suspended
However, now we have learned that those three students who were briefly detained by police were severely punished by the Agriculture Faculty administration. Scholarships of the three students were stopped on grounds that they violated the scholarship circular of the Ankara University. Most students of the agriculture faculties are children from rural Turkey. Their families often have limited income and can hardly provide university expenses of their children. Cutting scholarship of a student, particularly if we consider the fact that scholarships were granted only after it was proved in detailed investigations that a family really needs such a support be extended for their sons otherwise they cannot meet the education expenses, is tantamount to denying education right to those students. Anyhow, these three students were each receiving a meager 200 TL (less than 120 dollars) scholarship and free lodging at a state-owned hostel.

Furthermore, we have learned as well that the Ankara University administration has opened an investigation against nine more students in connection with the October anniversary celebration ceremony at the Agriculture Faculty and the students were requested to submit in their defense.

We could not learn yesterday whether the scholarship suspension decision for three students and the investigation launched against nine other students was a result of a request by the president from the university administration to take measures against such "disrespectful" behavior. However, at the celebration day the president was very much annoyed with the sit-in demonstration of the students and with a hand gesture he had asked the police to disperse the protestorsÉ While the Gül we know would not ask such punitive action be taken against students exercising their legitimate right to protest which we consider to be part of the right to free speech, a fundamental of democracy, it is obvious that there is need for a benevolent president to intervene and save the education life of these children whose acceptance of a 200TL scholarship demonstrates in all clarity how desperate they are in financing their education expenses.

The university administration must be reminded that they should not expect university students turn into some kind of a serf because they were provided with a meager education assistance as 200 TL is so small a figure to be considered as a scholarship.