In response to the Ministry of Youth and Sports announcing the 2026 KYK scholarship and loan amount as 4,000 TL, Student Collectives organized protests in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir on January 6. In Istanbul, university students marched on Istiklal Avenue; eight students and a reporter from sendika.org covering the protest, Zişan Gür, were detained. Those detained were released after police procedures. In Ankara, students blocking Atatürk Boulevard stated that 4,000 TL was unacceptable given the increasing poverty conditions. In Izmir, university students gathered on Kıbrıs Şehitleri Street protested with the slogan “Budget for education, not war,” stating that the scholarship amount effectively deprived them of their right to education.
January 6, 2026
sendika.org