Turkish police detained at least 220 people Monday in nationwide protests against Turkey's university watchdog, a much-criticized legacy of the 1980 military coup, Turkish media reported.
Ninety-five university students were taken into custody outside Ankara when they clashed with police after being refused a permission to enter the city for a planned protest against the Higher Education Council (YOK), Anatolia news agency said.
The protestors hold a symbolic funeral ceremony for the YOK, a supervising body whose establishment in 1981 stripped Turkish universities of their autonomy and brought them under close state control.
Two students and two officers were injured when truncheon-wielding police swooped on the students after they attempted to block the road, according to Anatolia.
Police briefly detained 25 people at Istanbul's Beyazit square, where some 500 students and scholars hold a demonstration under heavy security measures, including numerous check points and security cameras, Anatolia said.
Some 3,000 policemen were deployed at the scene with several snipers stationed on the roofs of nearby buildings, according to the all-news NTV channel.
Another 100 demonstrators were taken under custody in the southeastern cities of Diyarbakir and Siirt and Trabzon in the north.
Critics say the influence YOK wields over university administrations, their scholars, students and education programs has dealt a serious blow to freedom of science and thought.
The YOK is one of the most-criticized institutions established by the military after it seized power on September 12, 1980 to put an end to a domestic political and economic chaos marked by street violence between right- and left-wingers.
Universities, which were often the scene of clashes between opposing groups, were blamed for contributing to the political polarization among Turkish youth -- ANKARA (AFP)
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