Four recent graduates of a Turkish university have been arrested for displaying a cartoon mocking the nations president at their graduation ceremony.
The students at Middle East Technical University in Ankara made and carried a long banner printed with a cartoon of animals whose faces resembled Recep Tayyip Erdoan, entitled The World of Tayyip, , citing a report from the state-run Anadolu agency.
Originally published by a satirical magazine, the cartoon was the subject of a defamation lawsuit by Mr Erdoan 12years ago. However, an Ankara court dismissed the case, saying that the cartoon was within the limits of freedom of speech, Reuters said.
Anadolureported that the four had been arrested夷n the course of an investigation into a sign containing defamation of Erdoan.
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Meanwhile, the Erdoan government has fired another batch ofabout200 academics as part of a wider round of sackings of 18,500 state employees as a crackdown following the failed coup attempt of July 2016 continues.
They were prompted byalleged links with terror organisations and acts against national security.
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The sackings were announced in a state of emergency decree published on 8July, the .
European University Association saidthat it was concerned by the continued and grave pressures exerted on university autonomy and academic freedom in Turkey. The Association calls on the government of President Erdoan to respect these internationally recognised principles and expresses its support for the Turkish higher education community.
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