Concern over student clashes
CLASHES between rival groups of university students in the Lefke region are causing “concern” among the residents and business owners, it has been reported.
Eleven people appeared before Lefke District Court on Monday accused of “fighting, rioting and deliberately causing damage to property” during a mass brawl in the town at 2.30am on Sunday. They were remanded in custody for two days.
Police told the court they were looking for another 21 suspects in connection with the violence, said to have occurred between Kurdish and Turkish students.
The commotion came just days after university students in Lefke threw stones and hit each other with sticks, smashing windows at the local fire station and damaging electronic equipment inside.
Five students were arrested in January after similar clashes on the Lefke European University campus and in surrounding streets saw local residents’ front doors kicked and left three cars damaged.
The Higher Education Planning, Supervision, Accreditation and Coordination Board (Yödak) said that it was “working on measures” to tackle violence among university students.
Ziya Öztürkler, head of the Higher Education and Foreign Relations Office at the National Education and Culture Ministry, said universities were able to take “disciplinary action” against any students found to be involved in violent behaviour, including those from “third countries”, a point that had also been “conveyed to the . . . interior ministry”.
Yödak executive board member Mehmet Hasgüler said a special committee had been established 14 months ago to address the problem, and had drawn up guidance for universities following a consultation process.