Students protest outside Bogazici University in Istanbul.
Photographer: Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Ozan Kose / AFP / Getty Images
The music of the heavy metal band Metallica provided the soundtrack while students in Istanbul protested against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for imposing a loyalist as head of a prestigious university.
Songs like ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘Sad But True’ were blown through the loudspeakers on the Bogazici University campus on Wednesday when students demanded that the new president, Melih Bulu, resign from Metallica.
Bulu, a ruling AK Party activist, was appointed over the weekend. The musical digging follows a TV interview on Tuesday where he says he has no plans to promote the university’s culture.
“I’m a principal who listens to hard rock, to Metallica,” he said.
As the music of the group became the soundtrack of the protest, the image of police officers handcuffing a gate of the university became their iconic image. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Tuesday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.