Three university students detained over placards insulting Erdoğan: Prosecutor

ANKARA

One placard during ODTÜ's graduation ceremony this year was supportive of the main opposition presidential candidate Muharrem İnce, reading "It will not end like this", referring to his defeat in June 24 elections.

Three students of Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Ankara were detained for carrying placards that insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on July 7.

“An investigation has been launched into the incident and three people have been detained,” the statement said, adding that the placards were carried during ODTÜ’s graduation ceremony.

The Prosecutor’s Office did not specify which placards came under investigation.

"We are saddened by the unpleasant incidents [during the graduation ceremony] and we do not approve them," the university's Rector's Office said in a statement on July 7.

Students carried placards with political messages during ODTÜ’s graduation ceremony on July 6, as part of the 62-year-old university's tradition.

A number of placards referred to the July 24 elections won by President Erdoğan, criticizing the government and supporting the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate Muharrem İnce.

ODTÜ, one of the top public universities in Turkey, is specialized in engineering and the natural sciences.