Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the suppression of protests at American universities, stating that authorities exhibit "brutality" in their crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and academics. Protests have spread across universities in the United States condemning Israel's actions in the Gaza war, prompting police to implement strict security measures and arrest individuals in some locations, such as Columbia University in New York.
During an event in Ankara, Erdogan remarked, "Students and academics with a conscience, including anti-Zionist Jews at some prestigious American universities, are protesting the massacre in Gaza." He added, "These individuals are subjected to violence, brutality, and suffering, even torture, for saying that the massacre must stop," noting that faculty members at universities face "dismissals and arbitrary judgments" for supporting Palestinians. Erdogan concluded, "The boundaries of Western democracy are drawn by Israel's interests... Anything that violates Israeli interests is considered anti-democratic and anti-Semitic to them."
