METU pride must be allowed to proceed

On 7 June, the rectorship of the Ankara based Middle East Technical University (METU) sent an email to all students, declaring the campus-based Pride march on 10 June ‘categorically banned’, threatening the participants with police intervention if the march proceeds.

The rectorship’s action represents an unjustifiable attempt to restrict the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of METU students and staff and must be reversed.

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Call on the Rector of METU, Prof Dr Mustafa Verşan Kök, to ensure all participants in METU Pride, students and staff, are able to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on 10 June freely and without fear of reprisal or punishment.

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Dear Prof Dr Mustafa Verşan Kök, I write to call on you to reverse your decision to ‘categorically ban’ the peaceful campus-based Pride march, planned for Friday 10 June 2022. The grounds cited in your email sent to all METU students on 7 June, namely the ‘damage that would be caused to the University’s prestige’ are not among those permitted under Türkiye’s domestic laws, nor are they permissible under binding international human rights laws and standards. In May 2019, during the last campus-based peaceful march, 18 students and one academic staff who were detained by police who used unnecessary and excessive force. They were prosecuted for their participation in the march but acquitted in their trial heard by the Ankara Penal Court of First Instance No 39 in October 2021. In the light of this court decision, any attempt to prevent this peaceful assembly would represent a new and serious restriction on those who wish to exercise their rights. I therefore urge you to ensure that all participants in METU Pride, students and staff, are able to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on 10 June freely and without fear of reprisal or punishment. Yours sincerely,
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METU pride must be allowed to proceed

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