The Senate and Rector's Office of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate issued a statement in solidarity with colleagues and students at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.

The statement reminded that the institution has “long maintained close partnership with world-renowned Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Since the beginning of January this year, students and scientists have been protesting against the politically motivated appointment of a rector. These took place by decree of the President Erdoğan without any involvement of the university bodies and in disregard of the principles of the university, which required the election of the rector.”

The statement added: “Our colleagues and fellow students are resolutely against the curtailment of academic freedom and the institutional autonomy of their university and thus for universal values ​​that represent the core of university thought. We are observing with outrage and great concern the vehemence and violence with which the peacefully protesting fellow students and colleagues are confronted: The police use violence against students; injuries and numerous arbitrary arrests occur.”

The statement also said: "We are horrified to see how the President and the media close to the government defame professors by name and declare them supporters of terrorism, how the LGBTI+ association is portrayed as a scapegoat and the commitment to liberal thoughts and values ​​is branded as treason. The massive interventions in the higher education autonomy of the Turkish universities as a whole have been going on for years. We are familiar with similar attacks on democratic structures, on freedom of expression and social plurality from our own history.”