Turkish police intervene in leftist student protest, 17 students detained

Turkish police intervened at Istanbul University where students had gathered to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of a slain leftist student, Onder Babat, who was killed in 2004 shortly after he left the office of the Revolutionary Movement magazine.

Turkish police arrested 17 students, allegedly because the Istanbul Governorship did not allow the commemoration. The police also arrested journalist Izel Sezer who was covering the protest for the Turkish Ileri Haber news portal.

The students gathered at the University’s Beyazit Campus to remember Onder Babat who had been studying Law at the University in 2004 when he was killed. The 25-year-old student was shot in the head with a 9mm bullet after he left the magazine’s office together with three friends.

The incident took place in the famous Istiklal Street in Beyoglu district, Istanbul. The perpetrators have still not been found and the murder remains a mystery.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Turkey guilty of not carrying out an effective investigation into the murder of the law student. The ECHR concluded that Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, the right to life, was violated by Turkish courts and was fined €20,000 in 2010.

Source: ipa