A Turkish association hosted 102 Palestinian students who were evacuated from their country amid Israel’s constant attacks. Students convened at the headquarters of the Social Development Center-Education and Social Solidarity Association (TOGEMDER) on Sunday.
Students were earlier evacuated from Palestine with the efforts of the Foreign Ministry, and the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).
Müşerref Pervin Tuba Durgut, a lawmaker from the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was among the prominent names attending the convention. Durgut highlighted the ongoing massacre in Palestine. "Our Palestinian brothers and sisters lose their homes, schools, their cities. Under the ongoing, horrible cruelty, they are acting heroically. Doctors do not abandon their patients, journalists continue reporting on massacres despite losing their own families. Palestinians are defending their homeland. Their brave, dignified stance inspires the world," she said.
TOGEMDER board’s Chair Belma Satır told the event that they gathered with students to talk about what they can do for them. "Some of them have Turkish citizenship and almost half of them are Palestinian-Turkish female students. They study at universities. We are discussing how they can resume their education here in Türkiye," she said.
Ahmed Aldalou, one of the students, said he was married to a fellow student, a Turkish citizen, but their education was cut short because of the war. Aldalo, who was studying civil engineering, said they were trapped in Gaza where most of the schools were bombed and collapsed. "We have nowhere to study. I hope Turkish universities will admit us," he told the event.
Türkiye, a major hub for international students, already houses a large number of students from Gaza and other Palestinian cities attending Turkish universities.
A recent presidential decree reimbursed tuition fees for master's and doctoral students residing in war-hit Gaza, Palestine, who are pursuing a thesis program or equivalent in public higher education institutions in Türkiye. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's decision added a temporary article to the presidential decree concerning contribution and tuition fees for the 2023-2024 academic year in higher education institutions. This addition stipulates that for the spring semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, the state will bear the tuition costs for thesis-based master's and doctoral students residing in Gaza, Palestine, enrolled in formal education programs at Turkish public higher education institutions. Moreover, a presidential decree issued on Nov. 17 and recently published in the Official Gazette covered the tuition fees for associate and undergraduate students from Gaza attending formal education programs at public Turkish higher education institutions. With this latest decision, master's and doctoral students have also been included in this program, marking an extension of the financial support initiative.
At least 4,119 Palestinian school students have been killed and 7,536 others injured in the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Palestinian Education Ministry said earlier this month. In addition to the students' casualties in Gaza, the Israeli army also killed 37 school students and injured 282 others in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Oct. 7, the ministry said in a statement cited by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The statement noted that 221 teachers and educational staff were also killed, and 703 others injured in Gaza by the Israeli army. It also said that 343 schools across Gaza were damaged in the Israeli bombing in addition to 38 schools damaged in the West Bank.
Prisoners' rights groups said on Monday that the Israeli army detained 55 more Palestinians, including 25 Al-Najah National University students, in overnight raids across the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military detained 25 students from the Al-Najah National University in Nablus on Sunday night, while other arrests were made in Hebron, Ramallah, East Jerusalem, Jenin and Tubas, the Palestinian Prisoners Club and the Commission of Detainees Affairs said in a joint statement.
Israeli soldiers beat and abused Palestinians during the arrests, as well as damaged their homes and other property, the statement said. A woman from Hebron, two children, and former prisoners are among those detained, it added.
The latest arrests bring the total number of Palestinian detainees in the West Bank to 5,930 since Oct. 7, the statement said. The figure does not include the Palestinians arrested in Gaza, whose numbers are not specified by Israeli authorities, it added.