The uprising spilling out from the campus

The uprising spilling out from the campus

SPREAD TO SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The resistance was not limited to university students. Under the Ministry of Education’s “Project School” initiative, many high school teachers were reassigned against their wishes, separating them from their schools. This move, seen as an attempt by the government to consolidate control in high schools, mobilised students there as well.

High school students, much like their university counterparts, turned their schools into sites of protest, resisting for days to defend their teachers. The movement gained wider support from parents, alumni, and even university students already involved in the demonstrations.

Over the past year, the youth’s struggle has experienced ups and downs, yet the anger they felt never subsided. The determination of young people who once again filled Beyazıt and Saraçhane on the anniversary of 19 March is a clear testament to this enduring resolve. Today, these young protesters shared with BirGün what 19 March truly means to them.

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19 MARCH: THE SCHOOL WHERE WE DISCOVERED OUR STRENGTH

Taylan Ö. Delibaş – Student at Istanbul University

Viewing 19 March as a brief, isolated outburst would be a serious oversight. This moment built upon the cumulative reactions of the past five years from the Boğaziçi resistance and Zeren Ertaş protests, to canteen demonstrations and local responses against femicides. Every forum established on campus and every slogan chanted contributed to the political groundwork that gave rise to 19 March. 19 March represents a breaking point where fragmented demands could no longer be contained, merging into a central political will and producing a qualitative leap. With this rupture, the youth movement moved beyond a defensive position constrained by local demands and filled the streets with top-level political slogans such as ‘Government Resign.’ The direct political engagement of broader groups created a force that even influenced the stance of the main opposition party. 19 March is not a defeat; it is a school where an unorganised youth struggle encountered its limits, but also where we rediscovered our own power.

The movement initially emerged in response to diploma annulments but quickly transformed into the cries of tens of thousands demanding ‘Government Resign’ and ‘Decent Living.’ From university students forced to work heavy jobs to afford their studies, to high school students exploited as unpaid labour under MESEM (Vocational Education Center) and falling victim to workplace accidents, young people across different sectors face the same chain of exploitation. The opposition by students to universities being designed solely around corporate profit, and the resulting interventions by police and the Higher Education Council (YÖK), demonstrates that campus struggles for rights are inseparable from the broader fight for political freedom in the streets.

NOTHING CAN RETURN TO THE WAY IT WAS

Ceren Türkkan – Student at Galatasaray University

It was an ordinary day. In the corridors of our campuses, once again made to feel like they didn’t belong to us, we would attend the same classes and wait out the day on the same benches. Within these buildings, constrained by a system that could not contain us, we quietly struggled for both our hope and our very existence.

Under the weight of insecurity, economic pressure, and an uncertain future, we fought in silence. But the spark that emerged from Istanbul University changed that quiet. On a day when an entire generation seemed on the verge of losing hope, 19 March became the day for young people inspired by the courage of strangers they had never met.

Our individual silences were replaced by a strong, collective voice, and the way that voice echoed through the streets restored a sense of trust we had long been missing in one another. We are a generation that grew up watching Gezi on screens, nurturing admiration and curiosity in silence. We are young people who promised ourselves never to forget the memory of Ali İsmail Korkmaz.

Today, students want to have a presence not just on campuses, but in every aspect of life. When they cannot find accommodation, cannot make ends meet, and do not receive fair compensation for their labour; when they are excluded from political decision-making processes and denied a voice, they refuse to accept ‘ready-made solutions’. Most of us have no faith in any party agenda or in the policies imposed on us from above. Because we now know what it means to “dare”. We have seen that what emerges when we create, think and stand in solidarity together is far too genuine to be reduced to any political formula.

Perhaps not everything has changed yet. Perhaps tomorrow will not be easy. But the legacy of 19 March is precious for exactly this reason: once we truly saw each other and recognised that we are stronger standing side by side, nothing can return to the old silence. The greatest gain for a generation is not having its demands immediately met but discovering that its voice truly exists.

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Utku Özay – Student at Marmara University

Since the day I was born and began to make sense of life, I have never seen any government other than the AKP. Like many young people pushed into a futureless existence under this dark and corrupt regime, there were two widely held hopes for escaping it. One was the belief that by studying, earning a diploma and improving ourselves in our fields, we could build a future. The other was the idea that the strongest opposition candidate could defeat the regime in an election and bring this darkness to an end.

That is why 19 March means more than the annulment of a diploma and the arrest of the strongest candidate against Erdoğan. It must be seen as the day that destroyed young people’s hope of building a life in this country. The most fundamental demand of the student movement is, of course, a future in this country: a system where no diplomas that have been unlawfully revoked, where qualifications are secure, and where there is a country free from AKP rule. But the demands do not end there. Young people cannot afford to study due to the economic crisis. Even when they graduate, they cannot find jobs or are forced into insecure work. They are eliminated in job interviews.

After breaking through the barricades and shaking off the sense of stagnation hanging over the country, a wave of public mobilisation began everywhere. And this movement now had a single demand: to bring down the AKP government, once thought unshakeable. That barricade became a small symbol of this possibility. The AKP had lost at the barricade, and it could lose again. To suppress this wave of street mobilisation, the government unlawfully detained more than 300 young people who were exercising their constitutional rights and defending their future. I am one of them. Those who took to the streets to defend their future and were punished by the AKP for it. They were our hope, the ones who tore down the barricades. The AKP wanted to crush the hope of those who tore down the barricades, but there was one thing it didn’t realise: we are millions; we are the majority in this country. Just as we stood in solidarity and hope while breaking the barricades outside, we maintained that same spirit inside. It was clear from the slogans we chanted upon our release: you cannot intimidate me, us, or these millions. Your time has long since passed.

The period following 19 March has seen the students’ demands remain unmet. Mass protests have given way to a deep silence and a stagnant atmosphere on the streets. Yet the demands have not been met. The hardships faced have multiplied. The political Islamist regime continues its attacks with increasing intensity. The AKP exposed a weakness during the 19 March process and revealed what it feared most. This was the mass struggle of young people, women and the people of Turkey. The course of action is clear. We must continue this struggle with the broadest possible base standing against the AKP, from every corner of the country, and consign this darkness to the dustbin of history.

WE CAN ONLY GROW BY UNITING

Özgür Taylan Moral – Student at Marmara University

I am one of the young people in this country who has lived their entire life under the pressure of the same government. Through repression, exploitation, inequality and restrictions on social freedoms, the authorities have sought to create a climate of fear. As a result, many young people turned towards seeking individual paths of survival. The idea that ‘everyone is on their own’ became widespread, with self-prioritisation shaping attitudes among youth.

However, 19 March showed us that this long-standing political pressure could be broken, and that resisting oppression remains a real alternative. As the climate of fear collapsed, the sense of freedom brought by resistance revived solidarity, standing by one another, and the belief that fighting for one’s country is both right and legitimate. As the protests continued, events moved beyond the specific case of municipal operations and evolved into broader demands for justice against lawlessness, particularly within universities.

The fact that the oppression and human rights violations experienced in prisons during our detention were brought to the public’s attention through the solidarity networks that were established helped to reduce the pressure on the detained students. The solidarity shown by people from all segments of society gave hope to the detained students and those fighting for their cause at a time when people were increasingly being isolated. At the same time, the fact that young people continued to take action undeterred in the face of this oppression helped to dismantle the climate of fear and gradually paved the way for political mobilisation. During my brief period of detention, I observed that prisons were being used as a tool to intimidate and isolate political prisoners. Unfortunately, in our country, being sent to prison has now become a situation that anyone could face one morning when their door is knocked on. As we go through a period in which thousands of political activists have been imprisoned, I believe that the solidarity networks established with prisoners should not be limited solely to specific issues.

Although the youth movement appeared to gain strength during the 19 March period, it still fell far short of its full potential. For a process that saw tens of thousands of young people take to the streets to be reduced to a day of annual commemoration is a disappointing outcome. We are going through a period in which young people, just like other sections of society, are grappling severely with poverty; their social freedoms are being stripped away day by day; they are being driven to suicide by fears of a bleak future; and they are living under the pressure of countless other reasons we could list. It seems that the situation is set to become even more dire. I believe there is a need for structures that will comprehensively address the youth’s pressing issues and unite the masses as a whole around a social opposition.

The youth movement fluctuates rapidly. I believe that when these rising waves are transformed into a tool that serves only to strengthen the established structures rather than strengthening social opposition, the progress of the struggle is blocked, and that in such times, acting in unison will make the struggle stronger and more sustained.

A NEW FORM OF POLITICAL PRACTICE

Hacettepe University Action Committee:

To truly understand 19 March, one must not look at that single day, but speak from within the days that surrounded it. We experienced that period not as a schedule of protests, but as a time when the campus itself was transformed. At Beytepe, the moment that began with students leaving lecture halls quickly evolved into forums, marches, and spaces for collective expression.

One of the most defining experiences for Hacettepe was the forums. There, no one spoke on behalf of others, everyone voiced their own thoughts. This was something that had long been missing at Hacettepe. Instead of a represented student group, a directly speaking one emerged.

Throughout the marches, the threat of police intervention and administrative pressure was constant, yet there was never any retreat. What stood out most at Hacettepe was this: students from different parts of the campus came together more directly than ever before. Women, LGBT+ students, those from different political groups, and independents all stood side by side. This unity did not arise spontaneously; it was built throughout the process.

However, this rise was met with a swift counter-response. While the movement was still active, identity checks, official reports, and administrative pressures began. Looking back, the most critical aspect of the 19 March process is this: students at Hacettepe directly constructed their own politics.

This is significant because, for a long time, politics that reached broad student groups at Hacettepe had either been limited or pushed back under administrative pressure. But with 19 March, this barrier was broken. As the Hacettepe Action Committee, we say this: 19 March was not merely a period of protest; it was the moment a new way of doing politics emerged at Hacettepe.

THEY CANNOT TAKE OVER THE COUNTRY

Students of METU (Middle East Technical University):

ODTÜ’s 19 March began with the Söğütözü resistance. Seeing students in Beyazıt, Istanbul, break through police barricades gave all of us a sense of unity and strength. On the evening of the 19th, knowing that our friends had overcome barriers and restrictions, we marched from the METU (Middle East Technical University) campus towards Güvenpark. When we looked back and saw the tens of thousands behind us, it strengthened our collective hope.

Throughout the boycott, we organised open lectures, workshops, panels, and forums on campus until the evening, and at night we struggled to break the police blockade surrounding our campus. Together with fellow students from universities across Ankara, we gathered in places such as Seğmenler Park to discuss how to expand and advance the struggle.

From campuses to public squares, we created such a powerful wave of opposition that authorities sought to suppress it through protest bans, blockades, and by extending the public holiday. During this extended holiday period, when some of our friends declared they would hold a vigil at the Physics Lawn, the METU (Middle East Technical University) administration, acting in cooperation with the police, allowed officers onto campus to disperse them. More than twenty students were detained in an attempt to intimidate us.

They tried to break the unity we built during our legitimate uprising on 19 March. With the beginning of this period, we also learned that eleven of our friends are facing unlawful criminal charges for allegedly disrupting public order.

Those who seek to criminalise the legitimate resistance of the youth should know this: we will not be intimidated by your repression, your unlawful investigations, or your punishments. We will continue our struggle.

THE PATH TO OUR DREAMS RUNS THROUGH THE STREETS

Students of Ankara University:

The student movement, reignited by the smashing of barricades and walls of fear in Beyazıt, grew in Ankara on the evening of 19 March through the determination of hundreds of young people standing side by side with METU (Middle East Technical University) in Söğütözü.

On 20 March, we gathered at Ankara University’s Tandoğan Campus to voice our objections, our concerns, and our hopes; for our rights, our country, and our future. We took to the streets not only to protest the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, but also to resist a futureless existence, repression, and the regime itself. Despite shields and tear gas, we did not take a step back. Dozens of our friends were detained during home raids, subjected to strip searches, and placed under house arrest.

In forums, we generated ideas; during boycotts, we debated the vision of an autonomous university. In Seğmenler, we rediscovered student solidarity, forum culture, and collective creation. We participated in university committees (ÖTK), taking steps toward a democratic university where all components have a voice.

We know that the 19 March uprising was not a coincidence, a fleeting excitement, or mere luck, it was the natural outcome of the youth’s accumulated anger. Today, organising that anger is in our hands. The life we dream of passes through resistance it runs through the streets.

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THE RESISTANCE CONTINUES, THE STRUGGLE IS ONGOING

On the first anniversary of the detention of Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, students and youth organisations staged a protest at Istanbul University. Following the same route as last year starting from the Esnaf Canteen and breaking through barricades to reach the Main Gate students marched with slogans to mark the occasion. Along the way, they were temporarily blocked in various areas.

At the Main Gate, students held a press statement in solidarity with peers expelled from Hacettepe University for participating on 19 March protests, and with members of Sol Genç under house arrest for defending secularism. The statement read:

“A year has passed since our resistance began. Today, the AKP government continues to attempt to silence students defending their rights and future through arrests, expulsions, and house arrest. Sixteen of our friends were detained at the start of the semester for opposing MESEM (Vocational Education Centre). Those defending their country and universities at Hacettepe have received expulsions of up to three years. Three students remain under house arrest for defending secularism. Thirteen of our friends at Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa are under investigation. Four friends in Beyazıt protesting the attacks on Rojava have been detained for 66 days. The AKP government wants to fully control a generation it condemns to hopelessness, targets in MESEMs (Vocational Education Centre), unleashes fascist gangs on in universities, and exploits to the core. But the youth have already shown they will not submit and will defend themselves!”

Students concluded their statement:

“Palaces and autocrats fall. But the revolutionary struggle of the people and the youth continue forever. What remains are those who resist. To those who impose poverty, unemployment, and steal our hope and future, our message is clear: we will not surrender to your darkness!”

Letters from Sol Genç members, who have been under house arrest for 43 days for defending secularism, were also read. One letter stated:

“Those who sent our friends to prison on 19 March now hope to silence us, force us back, and make us forgotten through house arrest. Yet they know and fear the truth: we are not alone.”

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kampüsten taşan isyan, published in BirGün newspaper on March 20, 2026