In Dersim, five students from Munzur University have been detained as a "security risk". The action was justified by dances that have been reclassified as "illegal action" by the Turkish police. The group was forcibly removed from campus and taken to the local police headquarters. They face charges of violating the Law of Assembly.

Meanwhile, Munzur University has been besieged by security forces since Friday morning. Police are present with several water cannons and armored vehicles, numerous officers are visibly positioned throughout the campus area and at the entrances. The background to the mobilization is protests by the student body against activities of the Islamist "Youth Foundation of Turkey" (TÜGVA) at the university and in Dersim in general.

Revelations about TÜGVA

By its own admission, TÜGVA's official mission is to "contribute to an innovative, hardworking, morally good, tolerant and successful youth." In addition to the president's son Bilal Erdoğan, a number of deputies from the ruling AKP party sit on the supervisory board of the institution, which is mainly funded by donations. Several revelations about the foundation, most recently in 2021, made it clear that its main purpose is to produce cadres loyal to the regime and place them in the bureaucracy of the Turkish state. This was proven, among other things, by a leak of internal documents. Accordingly, hundreds of AKP loyalists have already been placed in key positions in state institutions, including the military, judiciary and police. So-called "allocation lists" were also leaked, with the help of which TÜGVA members or members of the other regime foundations, TÜRGEV and ENSAR, were given preference in recruitment procedures.

Hub of indoctrination

Munzur University has long been considered a hub of indoctrination for the regime's purposes. The educational institution has become the center of religious orders and congregations that spread from there throughout the city with the goal of assimilation. Various organizations serve for indoctrination and religious propaganda work, such as the Islamist orders Menzil and Süleymanci, the notorious Ensar Foundation or the Birlik Vakfı (Unity Foundation). More than 90 percent of the approximately 600 international students in the 2021 summer semester were nationals of countries such as Syria, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, and Iraq, regions where Turkey is intensively active with educational institutions to strengthen soft power, such as through the state-run Maarif Foundation, as well as intervening militarily or at least maintaining a presence to assert its claim to leadership in the Islamic world. These foreign students are housed in accommodation run by AKP-affiliated foundations in Dersim.

"The universities are ours"

For some time now, under the aegis of the regional Mufti office, supposed youth institutions have been springing up like mushrooms. These include "Religious Youth Center Hz. Ali," "Youth Center Hz. Fatima," or "Ehl-i Beyt Koranic Course." Most recently, the TÜGVA and AKP opened local offices in the Alevi Kurdish province of Dersim. On Sunday, a large number of Munzur University students and residents from the region protested against the activities of Islamist organizations in the city. "We want an autonomous, democratic and free university," was the slogan of the demonstration that crossed the campus. The slogans that could be heard again and again were "The universities belong to us, with us they will be liberated" and "Away with the so-called youth centers." The situation at the university is tense, the student body has announced further protests. The blockade by the regime's security apparatus is unlikely to end anytime soon.