Voice of America, February 28, 2019
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| University of Maragheh |
On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, it is reported that students at Maragheh University in East Azerbaijan province, who signed a petition demanding the establishment of a Turkish language and literature department, were threatened with expulsion from the university.
This information has been shared on social media and the Yol Press website, which operates in Urmia.On February 21, in celebration of International Mother Language Day, a petition prepared by the "Azerbaijan Promotion Center" at Maragheh University was signed by approximately 950 students at the university.
According to Yol Press, the coordinator of this initiative, student activist Salar Särkesh, was told that he must "leave the university within 48 hours" as a result.
Salar Särkesh spoke to Yol Press about the issue, stating:
"Last year, a two-credit elective course in Turkish was widely welcomed by students at Maragheh University. We then legally collected over 900 signatures to demand the establishment of a Turkish language and literature department and submitted them to the university rector. Afterward, the security department took my student ID and told me I must leave the university within 48 hours!"
According to information spread on social media, the university security also threatened students in the female dormitory with expulsion from the university, demanding that they retract their signatures.
Link to the original text in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Marağada ana dili günü müraciəti imzalayan tələbələr təzyiq altında