19 detained, crowd pepper-sprayed during PM's visit to university

ANKARA

DHA Photo

Police detained 19 students and pepper-sprayed many more in an effort to contain a demonstration protesting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he was visiting Ankara University on the first day of classes, daily Hürriyet has reported.
 
Students became frustrated by the extreme security measures they were subjected to, which were designed to control entrance to the campus. Each student was asked to show his or her ID, as well as having his or her name checked on a list by security officials. Eventually a reaction grew among the students, and they began to complain about not being able to enter "[their] own university."
 
Police then used pepper-spray to disperse and contain the crowd. Nineteen students were detained following the protest.