A high school teenager from southern Turkey was expelled from her school after the disciplinary investigation for attending a ‘no’ campaign for the upcoming referendum. The student said she started legal proceedings against the unjust act from the school, adding that she will pursue the ‘no’ campaign even more.
Kardelen Çokluk, 19, of Hatay, was taken into custody as she was participating in a referendum campaign of “No to Presidency Youth Initiative.”
She was released under judicial control after she was sent to the court with the warrant of arrest. Çokluk was then expelled from her high school when she was preparing for her college application tests.
She started the legal process and embraced the ‘no’ campaign even more after she was dismissed from school because she said “no,” according to Çokluk.
ONLY A FEW DAYS TO THE EXAM, SHE WAS EXPELLED
Çokluk, a senior at Selim Tevfik Ocak Anadolu Lisesi, said she was investigated in connection with “defamation of the president” by distributing ‘no’ pamphlets for the upcoming referendum and she was released under judicial control.
About two weeks after she was released, the school principal told her that the Directorate of National Education, the police and the governorate had sent a letter to the school to start a disciplinary proceeding and she was then sent to the committee.
She was either to be banned from organised education or to change her school, she said. After she was expelled, they requested her to enrol in another school. She enrolled in a private school after she was not allowed by public schools.
She fell on hard times only a few days until the college test and her performance was affected by the situation, she said.
‘I WILL SAY NO EVEN MORE’
After she was penalised, the school board called her family for a meeting and requested her to prepare a response to her family.
However, her family supported Çokluk in a meeting with the board. She said voting ‘no’ in the referendum is as legitimate as voting ‘yes,’ and she will say ‘no’ and pursue the campaign no matter what.
What happened was unlawful and she will fight until the end, according to her. What she faced was truly a clue for the new system that the government wants to establish, Çokluk said.
She said the number of people voting ‘no’ has to increase in order to avoid other students from such situations, to have a better future and a democratic country.
