Journalism students at İstanbul University were prevented from displaying a blank poster at their graduation ceremony out of fear that a political message could later be added to it on social media, the Yeni Yaşam newspaper reported.
The graduation ceremony took place at the Cemil Birsel Conference Hall on Monday.
The students said they wanted to display the blank poster because they were told posters would be allowed if they didn’t include political messages; however, the assistant dean of the communications faculty at İstanbul University told the students they could not take the blank poster into the hall.
Dilek Sarıgül, one of the students, said Assistant Dean Burcu Kaya Erdem told the students that they could display a poster at the ceremony if it did not contain a political message but that private security guards prevented them from displaying it anyway.
Last year, Turkey saw the arrest of some students from Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Ankara for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by carrying a placard during the university’s graduation ceremony.