The Turkish government has since last summer closed down 15 universities across the country over their alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, forcing 66,000 students to look for somewhere else to continue their education.
The government under post-coup emergency rule shuttered Fatih University, Murat Hüdavendigar University and Süleyman Şah University in Istanbul, Orhan Gazi University in Bursa, Gediz University, Izmir University and Şifa University in Izmir, Altın Koza University and Turgut Özal University in Ankara, Mevlana University in Konya, Canik Basari University in Samsun, Melik Şah University in Kayseri, Kanuni University in Adana, Zirve University in Gaziantep and Selahattin Eyyubi University in Diyarbakır.
Some 66,000 students registered at those universities were left to enroll in other schools, the Gazete Duvar online news portal said.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government along with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement despite the latter’s denial of involvement.
With hundreds of institutions including universities seized, more than 120,000 people have been detained over alleged or real links to the movement so far. (Turkey Purge)