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Erdogan likens students to terrorists, condemns Bogazici rallies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened protesting students to terrorists in a speech Wednesday, condemning ongoing demonstrations over the appointment of a government-linked rector to Istanbul’s Bogazici University.
People protest in a street of Istanbul on February 2, 2021 after clashes erupt during a demonstration against Turkish President's appointment of a party loyalist to head Istanbul's exclusive Bogazici University at the start of the year. - Turkey has been hit by weeks of rallies across major campuses and the standoff over the rector gained a new dimension when protesters hung a poster near his office depicting Islam's holiest site covered in LGBT imagery last week. (Photo by Bulent Kilic / AFP) (Photo by BUL

ISTANBUL — Ongoing student-led protests that have seen more than 300 people detained this week were denounced by several top Turkish officials Wednesday. In some of his most heated remarks on the demonstrations yet, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened protesting students to terrorists, saying state officials would not tolerate the escalating unrest that has sparked sometimes violent rallies in a number of Turkish cities.

"Are you students or terrorists who dare to raid the room of the rector?" Erdogan asked during a videoconference Wednesday, referring to demonstrations at Istanbul’s Bogazici University Monday, when students rallied near the government-appointed rector’s office to call for his resignation.

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