At a protest held on the campus of Istanbul Bilgi University, which was closed with the approval of AKP President Erdoğan, a large number of students took part and chanted the slogan “State, keep your hands off my university”.

The Social Insurance, Education, Office, Trade, Cooperative and Fine Arts Workers’ Union (Sosyal-İş), affiliated with the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions of Turkey (DİSK), issued a statement regarding the decision published in the Official Gazette at midnight concerning Istanbul Bilgi University.

According to the statement posted on the union’s social media account under the heading “We are standing up for our university”, a call was made to gather at Bilgi University’s Santral Campus today at 14:00 in opposition to the university’s closure.

In response to Social-İş’s call, it was stated that the workers and students of Bilgi University, which was closed with the approval of AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are being disregarded.

The statement included the following remarks:

“The hundreds of staff and thousands of students at Bilgi University, which was closed by a presidential decree last night, are being disregarded. We will fight together against this injustice and the decision that has plunged hundreds of education workers into precariousness overnight!”

LARGE PROTEST MARCH HELD ON CAMPUS

Following the call, a crowd comprising graduates, students, staff and trade union members gathered at Bilgi University’s Santral Campus. The crowd then organised a march within the campus, accompanied by slogans, clapping, whistling and cheering.

During the march, a banner reading “Neither the trustee nor the AKP, the campuses are ours” was carried.

The crowd chanted slogans such as “This is just the beginning, the struggle continues”, “The day will come, the wheel will turn. The AKP will answer to the people” and “State, keep your hands off my school”.

Following the march, students made a statement. The statement included the following remarks:

“We are the ones who created this university and made these campuses what they are. The students of this university have demonstrated to the administration what they can achieve when they come together, as they have done since 19 March. This system, which can interfere with the educational lives of thousands of students with a single signature, has sworn to keep the wheels of exploitation turning every day. We will not allow you to lock the gates of our university.”

A TRUSTEE HAD BEEN APPOINTED

An operation had been carried out against Can Holding as part of investigations into ‘money laundering’, ‘forming an organisation for the purpose of committing a crime’ and ‘aggravated fraud’.

As part of the investigation, over 120 companies within Can Holding (including Habertürk, Show TV, Doğa College and Bilgi University) were seized, and the TMSF was appointed as administrator.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kapatılan Bilgi Üniversitesi’nin kampüsünde protesto: “Devlet elini okulumdan çek”, published in BirGün newspaper on May 22, 2026.

Kaynak: BirGün