Turkish police batter, detain LGBTI pride marchers at ODTÜ campus

Turkish police have attacked an LGBTI pride march organized at the ODTÜ campus, battering and detaining several of the students. Previously, the state-appointed rector of ODTÜ had announced that this year's pride march would not be allowed and had warned that "all kinds of security measures" would be implemented to prevent it.

Friday June 10 2022 11:17 pm

Photo: Amnesty Turkey

Duvar English

Turkish police on June 10 attacked a pride march held on the campus of Ankara's prestigious Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ), detaining and battering several of the students. The march was held by the university's long-running LGBTI organization Solidarity Club after a two-year hiatus.

The intervention of the police against the students occurred in different parts of the campus. Faculty members tried to talk to the police to release the detained students, but their efforts did not yield any results. The number of the detained students has not been clarified yet.

Amnesty Turkey shared a video of the attempted march on its social media account.

Students who have come together for the 10th METU Pride have started to march.#OnuncuODTÜOnurYürüyüşü pic.twitter.com/vzdOpr7WT5
— Amnesty Turkey (@aforgutu) June 10, 2022

Several videos showing brutal violence against the students were shared on social media, drawing severe criticism.

tetikleyici içerik:polis şiddeti

Polis ODTÜ Onur Yürüyüşü'ne katılanları yerlerde sürükleyerek gözaltına almaya devam ediyor#OnuncuODTÜOnurYürüyüşü pic.twitter.com/Jsq6EUoJx7
— ÜniKuir (@unikuir) June 10, 2022

tw: polis şiddeti, işkence

Polis ODTÜ Onur Yürüyüşü'nde işkenceye devam ediyor#OnuncuODTÜOnurYürüyüşü pic.twitter.com/pOaooVyhzV
— ÜniKuir (@unikuir) June 10, 2022

Previously, the state-appointed rector of ODTÜ had announced that this year's pride march would not be allowed and had warned that "all kinds of security measures" would be implemented to prevent it.