SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Learn more.

Date of Incident: May 23, 2022

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):Antalya Akdeniz University

Region & Country:Western Asia | Turkey

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On May 23, 2022, a group of individuals assaulted a group of Kurdish students who were singing and dancing to Kurdish music at Antalya Akdeniz University.

Video footage shows one of the assailants kicking one of the Kurdish students. The Kurdish students allege that the campus security guards did not intervene to protect the students.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about an apparently ethnically motivated, violent attack on students on campus. State and university authorities have a responsibility to prevent and respond to such attacks, including by investigating and holding perpetrators responsible. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such violent attacks on campus undermine core higher education values, including equitable access and academic freedom, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://artigercek.com/haberler/antalya-da-kurtce-sarkilar-esliginde-halay-ceken-universitelilere-saldiri
https://susma24.com/antalyada-kurtce-sarki-esliginde-halay-ceken-universite-ogrencilerine-saldiri/
https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/240520223
https://twitter.com/ozgurogrncins07/status/1528811536185188353