OREANDA-NEWS. In Istanbul, 159 participants of student protests were detained in connection with the decision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appoint a new rector at the Bosphorus University. This was reported on Monday, February 1, in the office of the governor of the city.

According to the authorities, the detentions came after the students refused to stop the action «despite warnings». At the same time, according to representatives of the mayor, the students lined up around the perimeter of the rector's working rooms. Meanwhile, the AFP news agency, referring to the video from the scene, notes that the action was peaceful and law enforcement officers used force to disperse it.

The students demanded not only the departure of the rector, but also the release of four students who were detained after they hung an image on the university building with the rainbow flag of the LGBT community and the holy Kaaba building in Mecca for Muslims. Erdogan accused representatives of the LGBT movement of vandalism.

The new rector of the Bosphorus University is economist Melih Bulu, who in the parliamentary elections in Turkey in 2015 was nominated as a candidate from the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party, led by Erdogan. This is the second time, when Erdogan has appointed a person who is considered his confidant as the rector of the university, the AFP news agency noted. Until July 2016, rectors of Turkish universities were elected by voting.