Midnight raid by the trustee at Boğaziçi University: Police junta

12punto.com.tr Cenk BAŞBOĞAOĞLU

The Boğaziçi University Rectorate had requested that the Sports Committee (SK), Underwater Sports Club (BÜSAS), Music Club (BÜMK), and Fine Arts Club (GSK) relocate their club rooms in Hamlin Hall to the Hisar Campus. According to some allegations, a job posting for "packing and moving personnel" to work on Saturday, February 7 (today), pointing toward the South Campus area, had been circulating. Students viewed this during the night as a step toward forcibly emptying the club rooms, and shortly thereafter, in the early hours of the morning, numerous police teams surrounded the university. The belongings in the club rooms were seized.

‘ANOTHER ATTEMPT AT RENT-SEEKING…’

Speaking to 12punto, Ata Temur, President of the Boğaziçi University Contemporary Politics Society, said, "We have not forgotten the Aptullah Kuran Library, which was demolished for the sake of rent under the pretext that it was not earthquake-resistant, nor the Atatürk bust right next to it," and interpreted this initiative as "both a new attempt at rent-seeking and an effort to destroy the students' existing spaces one by one."

‘ARE YOU RUNNING A COMPANY?’

Temur criticized the calculations being made over the university's and students' spaces, stating, "The administration replaced the library and our Atatürk bust that they took from us with a 'promotional garden.' They marketed the garden in advertisements for the South Campus. What advertisements will this administration, which cannot even prevent our classrooms from flooding in the rain, use these rooms they are trying to take from us by force for? This is a blow to our freedom of expression. Are you running a company?"

''The garden built in place of the demolished library”

‘YOU WILL GO, WE WILL REMAIN’

The Boğaziçi University Student Representative Board (ÖTK), in an announcement on its official X account, invited students to participate in the march that began at the South Square at 08:30 on February 6 and to be present at the club rooms as of 08:45. In the post, the note addressed to the trustee Naci İnci, "You will go, we will remain," drew attention.

‘MOVING PERSONNEL NEEDED’

A moving job posting, which was alleged to be for the Boğaziçi University South Campus, was perceived as a midnight raid plan by the administration, which had demanded that the club rooms be emptied by Friday, against the students. Temur said, "The circulated moving job posting quickly drew a reaction, and when we called the number in the posting, we were brushed off with the response, 'The position has been filled.'" The posting forwarded to us by the students is as follows:

“PAYMENT AT END OF WORK TOMORROW 1600TL ETİLER

Hello friends, 10 packing and moving personnel are needed to work tomorrow, Saturday, 07.02.2026, between 06:30 – 16:00.

Work order:

Items such as art products and tools will be packed, loaded onto a vehicle, and unloaded from the vehicle into a warehouse at a short distance.

-Daily wage: 1600 TL + SGK (Social Security) + meal

-Payment will be made at the end of the day.

-If there is overtime, staying is mandatory; overtime pay is paid separately.

The job is important. Please only those who will take ownership of their work and are RESPECTFUL should respond.

Contact: Efe *: +90 (535) * * *

Please respond with height – weight – age – location information.”

‘STUDENTS ARE NOT BEING ALLOWED ON CAMPUS’

It was noted that the start time for the job in the moving posting, which was alleged to target the club rooms at Boğaziçi University, was 06:30 in the early morning. According to a post made by the X account named "Boğaziçi TV" on February 7 at 01:37, "Students other than those staying in dormitories are not being allowed into the North and South Campuses. It is stated that this is a one-night measure implemented by the Private Security Guards (ÖGB)."

‘WE ARE HERE, WE ARE WAITING FOR EVERYONE AT THE SOUTH CAMPUS’

In a post made by the X account named Boğaziçi TV, stating, "Entries to the South Campus were stopped at midnight. Students who thought the appointed administration would move the club rooms called their fellow students to the South Campus," a student stranded on the South Campus said, "We are here, we are waiting for everyone at the South Campus."

‘STUDENTS ARE ON WATCH’

According to photos sent to us by students, TOMA (riot control) vehicles began arriving at the Boğaziçi University South Campus at 5 a.m. According to the statement of Boğaziçi University student Deniz Altay Avcı at 05:38, the statistical ratio between the police vehicles filling the front of the university and the students was "not one police officer per person (i.e., 1 student), but one police vehicle (i.e., 20 police officers)."

THEY SPOKE FROM IN FRONT OF THE CAMPUS

A press statement was held by Boğaziçi University Physics student Ata Temur, Chemistry student Enes Polat, Electrical-Electronics Engineering student Deniz Altay Avcı, and Law student Ömer Faruk Aslan, who accompanied them from Istanbul University, via the X account "Boğaziçi Direkt CHP."

Temur stated that he and his friends could not enter the school and continued, "As school is about to start, an attempt at extortion is taking place on the rooms of our four deep-rooted clubs. An occupation attempt is being made just to recklessly and thuggishly toss a few pianos and various art materials somewhere."

Polat stated that he was one of the people who had been instructed by the administration three days ago to empty the large rooms and said, "Today, there is no way for any citizen in Turkey to answer the question, 'Why are these students waiting in front of their campus at five-thirty in the morning?' The building we call Hamlin Hall is a building of historical significance. These clubs have been operating there for decades. These clubs need very proper spaces and equipment to be able to carry out their activities. However, without considering any of this, they want to move them to some places where it is not even clear where they will be moved."

Aslan said, "While students cannot enter the campuses here, various riot police, security branches, and TOMA vehicles can enter," and made statements to the effect that "Struggles always start on campus, and struggles that start on campus result in the government."

Avcı drew attention to the disproportionate number of police, saying, "The 'Sprinter' vehicles you see, each of them contains at least 20 riot police," and addressed the trustee Naci İnci and the administration: "What is it that scares you so much? A piano? A guitar? Or the work being done inside the Fine Arts Workshop?"

ROOMS OCCUPIED WITH A MIDNIGHT RAID, MOVING POSTING ALLEGATIONS CONFIRMED

According to Aslan, approximately 20 detention vehicles had arrived at the campus where 11 students were present. The police soon deployed around the university and assisted in the emptying of the club rooms.

As of the morning hours, it is said that riot police teams are still patrolling the school.

News Source: 12punto