Medipol students remembered Ayşenur Halil

Istanbul Medipol University students protested the brutal murder of Ayşenur Halil, a 2nd year student of the Department of Media and Visual Arts, in Eyüpsultan. Our students, academicians, and administrative staff who came together in the South Campus wore black clothes and hung Ayşenur Halil’s photo on their collars. Carrying banners in Turkish and English that read “We are here for all women who have not been heard”, “We want to live”, “You, me, us, we are each other’s remedy”, “Stop violence, not women”, “We will not surrender to fear”, and “Don’t touch women and children”, the students observed a minute of silence for Ayşenur Halil, İkbal Uzuner, and all murdered women. The students then read the press statement first in Turkish and then in English, expressing their reactions. The students then shouted the slogans of “Ayşenur is not dead, she will live in our hearts” and “You will never walk alone”.

ÜNSALAN: WE REJECT THE MENTALITY THAT IGNORES AND EVEN KILLS THOSE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEMSELVES
Reading the press release on behalf of the students at the commemoration program, Hümeyra Ünsalan, a 2nd year student at the Department of Media and Visual Arts, said that they gathered after the brutal murder of Ayşenur Halil and İkbal Uzuner. Ünsalan stated that sharing the same desk with Ayşenur deepened their pain and addressed the society, calling for justice: “We reject the mentality that ignores and even kills those who are different from themselves, those who are weak. Today, as Medipol students, we are addressing our state leaders: ‘We don’t want to bury another Ayşenur, we want to see them in school.’ Every incident in which justice is not served and perpetrators do not receive the punishment they deserve paves the way for new murders and sows seeds of distrust in society. The conscience of the state should not and will not rest until the murdered women, children, and innocents are held to account.”

DOĞAN: IF WE CHANGE, THE WORLD CHANGES
Melike Doğan, a 2nd year student in the Department of Media and Visual Arts, who read the rest of the press statement, said that instead of being in the classroom with Ayşenur, they were shouting her name. Emphasizing that young people are the future of this country, Doğan added: “This is not just a women’s struggle but a struggle for all humanity. Our responsibility is to create a society where everyone has equal rights, regardless of gender, orientation, ethnicity, faith or other differences. So, let’s stand up now, let’s not just make noise, let’s really be a part of the change. Let’s turn this spark that we started here today into the bright future of tomorrow because let’s not forget that if we change, the world changes.”