A protest by left-wing youth groups and students from Istanbul University on Friday was met with police intervention and several arrests. The participants wanted to demonstrate against the attacks on Kurdish residential areas in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, which are being carried out by the Syrian transitional government and its militias.
The police cordoned off the area around the university cafeteria and attempted to prevent the planned protest march to Beyazıt Square. In response, the statement prepared by the students was read out on site.
This was followed by a provocation by a suspected fascist who made the wolf salute—a symbol of Turkish ultra-nationalists. When the demonstrators reacted, the police intervened. Several people were arrested, and journalists were removed from the scene.
After the attack, another nationalist group approached and threatened the participants with racist slogans and threats of violence. Unlike the left-wing students, this group was not detained by the police.