Armed and Masked Group Attacks Student Protestors at Turkish University
- Endangered Scholars Worldwide
- Oct 30
- 3 min read
On October 27, a group of masked men armed with machetes and knives attacked a group of students who were protesting on the campus of Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. One student was injured during the attack. A total of 40 students were detained by police after the incident.
Hacettepe University had been the locus of recent protest activity, such as protests against a proposed bill in the assembly that would criminalize LGBTI+ identities as well as against cost-of-living issues such as prices of the school cafeteria. On October 17, 2025, protesting students occupied the cafeteria and served food to fellow students and staff. Soon after, about 30 students were detained by police on campus.
Protests on campus have been continuing in the past weeks. As in other universities in Turkey, the school cafeteria had been the site for repeated protests as students struggle to subsist with soaring inflation and a stagnant economy. The attack also happened as the students were protesting university policy regarding the cafeteria that would result in an increase in prices.
A far-right student group called for a gathering in front of the cafeteria of the Hacettepe University campus on October 27 for what was said to be a “leadership change ceremony” within the organization. A counter-protest against the “activities of reactionary-fascist gang organizations” was organized by socialist students on the same day. After the counter-protestors gathered in front of the school cafeteria, a group of masked men attacked students with machetes and knives. A student was injured and taken to the hospital.
Following the attack, rather than detaining the attackers, the police detained 28 of the targeted students. Later, another 22 students were detained at the hospital where the injured student was taken for treatment. All 28 students were later released, with 2 being released on probation.
One Hacettepe University student speaking to Euronews said that the attackers were outsiders affiliated with the Idea Hearths (also known as “The Grey Wolves”), the youth organization of the far-right Nationalist Action Party in Turkey. However, according to the reporting of the news outlet Sendika.org, some of the armed attackers were current students at Hacettepe University and have been involved in similar attacks on university students in the past. Some of these attacks include those against a previous student protest at a cafe on campus, one at the dorms, another against students putting up flyers, and more.
Just before the attack, a member of the youth wing of President Erdoğan’s Justice and Development party also shared a post on social media, threatening to kill the student protestors, and tagging the ministers of interior and justice in the message.
The armed attackers were urged to leave and were accompanied outside by private security. The university has made no announcements regarding the attack. Some of the students who were attacked said that both private security and the police seemed tolerant and accommodating towards the attackers. It is still uncertain whether the attackers were detained or not.
Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) condemns attacks on student protests as a major violation of academic freedom. We further condemn the detention of student protestors by police, even when they are the ones subjected to violent attacks by other groups. We call on Hacettepe University and the Turkish government to take the necessary steps to ensure student expression and speech on campus are protected. We invite the global community to join our call.
