"Young people are the engine of society and thus the force that will build the new and free life" - this is the slogan of the organization "Democratic Student Council", which was founded on Saturday in Istanbul. In view of the ubiquitous repression in the country and the fact that young people are being "forced into the wheel of the system from all sides", it is necessary to bundle the power for social change under one roof, the students explained.

As expected, the Council has set itself the important goal of turning the country’s universities, which are structured according to the mentality of the regime and thus formed into a “starting point of problems and conflicts”, into a “social haven of autonomy and freedom“ to transform. If it is possible to achieve university autonomy and thus overcome the monitoring and disciplining of the universities by the government alliance of AKP and MHP and its system of forced administration, this is a good approach to creating "free and democratic living spaces" in all areas of society and set lines for a future worth living.

Equal rights and obligations for everyone

The declaration of the Democratic Student Council outlines the vision of a society based on the principles of equality between peoples, democracy and women's liberation, in which all people have the same rights and duties. Nazgül Çamur read the declaration in Kurdish and Doğukan Akbaba in Turkish. First of all, the repression by the University Council (YÖK), the central state control body, was pointed out: “All democratic demands from students are suppressed by torture, arrests and detentions. Although Turkey and Kurdistan are known to be multi-ethnic territories, the state denies the right to education in the mother tongue. It continues to try to impose one identity and feeds fascism. On this basis, the hundred-year-old policy of denial and annihilation continues to be carried out, especially towards the Kurdish people. Students who come from Kurdistan to the universities in Turkish metropolises are not granted a social, linguistic or cultural habitat on the campus. Those who demand this fall victim to attacks by fascist mobs organized and supported by the police and university administration.”

Against women's universities and sexism in universities

The Democratic Student Council resolutely rejected the government's plans to introduce so-called women's universities in Turkey. Establishing an education system with gender segregation is part of a long-term plan to create "a new type of woman in Erdoğan's spirit". Through sexism in the academic field, the male-hegemonic and patriarchal regime is pursuing the consolidation of its own gender-political ideology among the younger generation. It is imperative to fight for scientific and free education free of gender-specific language behaviour at democratically autonomous universities. “This appeal is aimed at young people of Kurdish background whose right to mother tongue education has been violated since birth. They will not have forgotten the slaps they received from their teachers in primary schools for using the Kurdish language. The call goes out to all young women who are subjected to double oppression by the male educational system of patriarchal domination, molestation, rape and all other forms of violence. Our appeal is to young students whose most basic rights are being usurped - and who, despite attacks, disciplinary proceedings by the YÖK, expulsions from the university, arrests, will not be dissuaded from resistance."

Liberation is not an individual, but a social task

The declaration emphasizes that the fight for education is just one step towards the goal of building a "democratic society of free women". Liberation is not an individual, but a social task. Our response to the social death imposed on us will be to build a free tomorrow with our organized power. We establish this Council with a promise to preserve the legacy of the '68 movement left to us by leading figures like Mahir Çayan, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, Haki Karer and Mazlum Doğan, and to carry their legacy into a free future. We also owe this to the memory of our murdered comrades Aydın Erdem, Şerzan Kurt, Kemal Kurkut and many others.”