TURKIYE

Anger grows at universities over killing of nationalist student

Protests took place in various universities across Turkey last week against the killing of a student during a clash between supporters of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, at Izmir-based Ege University, reports Today’s Zaman.

Tensions ran high at Ege University the previous Friday when the two student groups began fighting each other with clubs and knives. Two students were critically injured in the brawl, while another suffered slight injuries. One of them, Firat Yilmaz Cakiroglu, died at Ege University Hospital while the other, Nurullah Semo, is still receiving treatment. Cakiroglu was a leading member of Ülkü Ocaklari, a youth organisation affiliated with the MHP.

Several classes were cancelled at Ankara University after the police received a tip-off about a possible clash between nationalist and pro-PKK groups on Monday. Similarly, about 2,000 members of Ülkü Ocaklari at Cumhuriyet University in Sivas province marched to protest Cakiroglu's killing and released a press statement. There was also a large-scale protest at Ege University, organised by the Education and Science Workers' Union, or Egitim-Is, in front of the computer science department.
Full report on the Today’s Zaman site