İSTANBUL - LGBTI+s have been targeted by government officials during the protests that have been going on at the university for one-and-a-half months.

 

Some 328 NGOs have signed a petition against the closure of the LGBTI+ Studies Club in Boğaziçi University and the police violence during the protests that have been going on at the school since early January, Kaos GL reported.

 

Under the slogan "We are together" (#beraberiz), the groups called on authorities to abandon anti-LGBTI+ hate speech, cancel the closure of the student club, end police violence and release the arrested protesters.

 

Students and academics of Boğaziçi University, one of the top higher education institutions in Turkey, have been protesting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's appointment of a new rector outside the university's academic community and without elections.

 

Senior government officials and pro-government media outlets have specifically targeted LGBTI+s during the protests, drawing criticism both nationally and internationally.

 

"Since we opened the text for signature, hate speech against LGBTI+s continued. Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club is still officially closed. Nine students who exercised their constitutional rights are still arrested," said the groups.

 

Here is the full text of the petition:

 

"We are together, we existed, we exist, we will exist!

 

"We, as civil society groups fighting for justice, freedom and our rights, are following the developments after the process of the appointment of a rector to Boğaziçi University.

 

"Police violence against those who exercise their constitutional democratic rights, especially Boğaziçi University students, detentions and arrests, hate campaigns against LGBTI+s led by senior public officials, and the closure of the Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club are not legitimate under any circumstances and are unacceptable. We stand with the students' demand for a democratic university. LGBTI+s struggle for rights is the struggle of all of us.

 

"We call on authorities to abandon hate speech against LGBTI+s, reverse the decision to close down the LGBTI+ Studies Club, end police violence and detention and release the arrested students."