ISTANBUL, May 27 — Ten students were detained in a clash between students and police during a protest in Istanbul city center on Friday.
The clash broke out outside the 5-star Swissotel in the Macka neighborhood where the three-day international conference was held by the Higher Education Council. Turkish President Abdullah Gul made the opening address.
About 1,000 young people from student unions gathered at Dolmabahce and tried to walk near the hotel chanting slogans against Turkey’s Higher Education Board, including “Universities are ours” and “We won’t back down.”
The police used tear gas and pressurized water to disperse the crowd and prevent them from arriving at the hotel area.
President Abdullah Gul said that the universities in all corners of Turkey would increase tolerance for differences and be the engine for economic development.
Gul said that the discussions, talks and debates at the conference would shed light to the future of the Turkish higher education and that the good ideas and suggestions to come out of the conference would be turned into policies that can be implemented.
“I believe that the universities in Turkey have crucial responsibilities to search for the truth and to facilitate justice. I do not think that there were any legal obstacles for our universities to fulfill their responsibilities,” Gul noted.
Source:English.news.cn