Police detain more than 170 people in Boğaziçi protests

ISTANBUL

Turkish police on Feb. 2 detained more than 170 people in Istanbul and Ankara following the protests against the appointment of a new rector at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.

Some 104 people were detained in the sprawling commercial hub of Istanbul and another 69 in the capital Ankara, police said in two statements.

Later on, 94 of the detainees in Istanbul were released. 

Students began their protests nearly a month ago, saying that the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector was undemocratic.

Rector elections in Turkey were lifted in 2016 with the order of an emergency decree created and passed by the Council of Ministers under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Though candidate rectors were previously selected among the academics elected by faculty members and the students, the regulation allows for the selection to be done only by Higher Education Council (YÖK) members.