University students in Ankara develop an alternative resistance

Ankara Free Student Initiative Co-spokesperson Özgür Abul stated that after the fascist government blocked the student resistance, they came up with the idea of starting a fanzine as an alternative way of protest.

In an interview with ANF, Özgür Abul noted that during the two-year pandemic era, they were locked away from universities, campuses, and schools and were separated from society and that the government used the pandemic to cover up its anti-democratic practices and the economic crisis. Noting that the students applied for part-time jobs to earn their living in cities where they came from other cities for education, Abul said: “The youth of society have become estranged from one another. After a five-minute talk with a young person, the topic returns to ‘How can I escape to Europe?’ And it’s not going abroad, but escaping. Though it is claimed to be free education, half of the 850 TL scholarship goes to the dormitories where we live. If a student tries to have at least two teas every day outside, the monthly cost will be around 400-500 TL. What will this student do with the 850 TL scholarship? The government sees the solution in students working part-time and in evening jobs like a courier.”

WE WANT OUR VOICES TO BE HEARD BY YOUNG PEOPLE

Stating that they developed an alternative resistance against the policies of the government, Abul continued as follows: “We, as student youth, sat down when we came to Ankara to think about what we could do, how we could develop an alternative to this pacified environment. We spoke about what kind of activities we could do and how we could express ourselves. As a result of the debates, the concept of a fanzine arose. We didn’t think about what the content could be after deciding to start a fanzine because, in such an environment, the problems were obvious. In this regard, we created our content at the request of our friends.” 

THE FIRST ISSUE OF RONAK

Abul revealed the following details about the fanzine RONAK, the first issue of which was published in February: “We have articles about women, health, and pandemic. There are also articles on ’68 Youth. Racist-fascist attacks have gained traction in recent years. There were attacks on the Ankara University DTFC and Cebeci campuses, racist attacks and lynching attempts on our patriotic friends in Istanbul and Akdeniz universities.  We have caricatures depicting these. The assimilation policies that have been in place for more than a century and are still in place, as well as the language of the denied Kurdish people, are mentioned. We also have articles about International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on February 21. Kurdish poet-writer Selim Temo sent us a poem as a gift for the first issue of our fanzine. The articles written by our friends from various universities are up-to-date and reflect the current situation. We include Kurdish crossword puzzles, movie and book recommendations at the end of our fanzine.”

WE WANT TO REACH MORE PEOPLE

Özgür Abul said that the second issue of RONAK for March will be published, adding, “Special days such as March 8, International Women’s Day, and Newroz, March 21, will be highlighted in the March issue. So far, we’ve received a lot of positive comments. Many of our friends are writing for the first time. We have received a lot of positive feedback from the community about our magazine. It drew a lot of interest, not just from universities in Turkey, but also from universities in Kurdistan. Many wished to read as well as contribute to the fanzine by writing. This makes us happy. If all of our friends, particularly Kurdish youth, read our fanzine, we would accomplish our aim.”

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