{"id":178268,"date":"2025-04-23T16:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=178268"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:47","slug":"students-protest-against-erdogan-turks-just-wanna-have-fun-damental-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/04\/23\/students-protest-against-erdogan-turks-just-wanna-have-fun-damental-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Students protest against Erdo\u011fan: \u2018Turks just wanna have fun-damental rights\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Free speech, free journalists, free students!”, echoes across the Erasmus Plaza on Wednesday afternoon. On the square between the Pavilion and the Food Plaza, around 35 students are holding protest signs. They are drawing attention to the political situation in Turkey. The immediate reason is the arrest of a political opponent of president Erdo\u011fan. \u201cWe want to contribute to the protests in Turkey\u201d, says second-year student Yaren.<\/p>\n

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At 12.00 pm, around twenty students were protesting on the Plaza, a number that later grew to about 35.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTyna Le<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

On this grey Wednesday afternoon, the bright yellow Pikachus are the first to catch the eye. One student is wearing a Pikachu cap, another is wearing a kind of cape with the famous Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s face on the hood. A third student has made a mask out of an empty cereal box. It all refers to a video<\/a> of a protester in a Pikachu suit that went viral worldwide. The video shows people in the Turkish city of Antalya fleeing from the police. Since then, young protesters have often used the Pok\u00e9mon in demonstrations against the Turkish regime \u2013 including at this protest on Woudestein campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might be wondering why we\u2019re standing here\u201d, a student shouts through a megaphone to students passing by, most of whom don\u2019t really stop to listen. \u201cErdo\u011fan abuses his power. Journalists are being arrested<\/a>, students who protest are detained. We \u2013 young people \u2013 have never known any government but his. I\u2019m not proud of the country I come from right now. I want to tell people about all the beauty it has, but we refuse to accept this!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pikachu became the icon of the protests in Turkey. This is not Esma from the article.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTyna Le<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

What the protesters refuse to accept is the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu<\/a>, along with around a hundred others. Imamoglu is officially suspected of bribery, fraud, supporting a terrorist organisation and leading a criminal organisation. Before his arrest, he was president Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s main opponent<\/a>. Recently, his university degree was also revoked. In Turkey, such a degree is required to run for president. A year ago<\/a>, Imamoglu was re-elected mayor with a decisive victory over Erdo\u011fan\u2019s party\u2019s candidate. This was seen as a historic defeat for the Turkish president.<\/p>\n\n\t

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