International News
15 MARCH 2021
Erdogan Cracks Down on Protests Against University Rector Adhya Moona, MA Global Media and Communications On 1 January, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu as the new rector of Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University. Since then, students and faculty members have led peaceful protests against Bulu’s appointment, an academic who is a close ally of the government. The decision to appoint Bulu was condemned as ‘undemocratic’ by university students and academic staff, and widely interpreted as the government’s attempt to gain control over the institution and undercut academic autonomy and freedom. After a failed coup attempt in 2016, a state of emergency decree gave power to the President of the country to directly appoint university rectors without any deliberations with the faculty members of the universities. The Turkish Police has used brute force against the escalating protests. Since early January, over 600 demonstrators have been detained in more than 30 Turkish cities. According to Human Rights Watch, Turkish authorities have placed hundreds of student protesters under possible criminal investigation. LGBT students have been proactive in the demonstrations. They fear Bulu will repress LGBT organising and jeopardise the safe areas created by LGBT students on campus. A trans woman studying at the university said, ‘There are minority groups who are more affected [by the appointment] than the majority, for instance, LGBTQIs [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex
Bogazici University (Credit: Turkmessage via Wikimedia Commons)
people], especially trans women and men. At a time when trans women like me have very limited safe space, such an appointment seems like an attempt to strip us of this space. We just want to exist.’ On 29 January, Turkish authorities commenced a targeted clampdown on LGBT students and demonstrators after a few students created an artwork depicting the Kaaba, Islam’s most holy site, juxtaposed with LGBT flags and a mythological creature that is half-snake and half- woman on the Bogazici campus. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter ‘4 LGBT deviants who committed the disrespect to the Kaaba-i Muazzama were detained at Bogazici University.’ Furthermore, Bulu has closed down the student led LGBT club at the University. President Erdogan has accused the protesters of being
‘terrorists’ and ‘LGBT youth’ working against Turkey’s ‘national and spiritual values.’ According to Amnesty International, some LGBTI+ students have been threatened with rape and subjected to derogatory comments. Although homosexuality is legal in Turkey, hostility towards the LGBTI+ community has surfaced in the recent years. In the subsequent weeks after the protest, according to the BBC, Erdogan said in a video broadcast to members of his party, ‘We will carry our young people to the future, not as the LGBT youth, but as the youth that existed in our nation’s glorious past.’ At a time when the President of Turkey promised democratic reforms and amending relations with the US, his disparaging language and homophobic insults have tarnished the leader’s international image and drawn condemnation from US President Joe
Biden’s administration. The United Nations, European Union and the US have denounced Turkey’s handling of the protests. The UN and EU have insisted on freeing the demonstrators who have been detained. Moreover, the United Nations Human Rights Council said, ‘We call for prompt release of students and protesters arrested for participating in peaceful demonstrations, and urge the police to stop using excessive force. We condemn homophobic & transphobic comments by officials, inciting hatred & discrimination against LGBT people.’ In response to the international criticism received on its way of managing the protests, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, ‘It is no one’s limit to attempt to interfere with Turkey’s internal affairs.’
peer-to-peer (P-2-P) Bitcoin market in the world and the largest in Africa. Analysts have anchored Bitcoin’s success in the federal republic with the rise of crypto-based startups amid the devaluation of the Naira during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Techpoint Africa, Nigeria traded $32.3M worth of Bitcoin in October 2020 alone. For the CBN, this strike against the nation’s cryptocurrency industry was done to curb ‘illegal transactions such as money laundering and drug trafficking.’ The CBN argued that cryptocurrency facilitated criminal activity in Nigeria given the ‘anonymous nature of [its] users and patrons.’ During a briefing with a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, ICT and Cybercrime, and Capital Market, the CBN’s governor justified this move. Governor Godwin Emefiele had said on 23 February that the Central Bank had acted in the ‘best interest of Nigerian depositors and the country's financial system.’
While the International Monetary Fund’s representative for Nigeria, Ari Aisen, agreed with the CBN’s directive citing that ‘some central banks, not only in Nigeria [share] the concerns about […] the [kind of] activities these crypto currencies’ are involved in, this move has served to fuel greater distrust and anger from Nigerians towards the federal government. Bitcoin, for example, has been instrumental for the anti-police brutality EndSARS movement. In 2020 it emerged that those associated with the movement had their bank accounts frozen, causing many to turn to what CoinDesk referred to as ‘unconfiscatible [cryptocurrency] bank account[s]’ to circumnavigate the watchful eye of the federal government’s clamp down. CoinDesk’s Hannah Akuiyibo argued that use of VCs by the EndSARS movement may have influenced the CBN’s decision to outlaw cryptocurrency, with pressure to do so coming from the central government. Yele Bademosi, CEO of Bundle Africa, sees this decision as a ‘losing battle’ for the
CBN. Bademosi highlights that Nigerians are very cryptocurrency savvy, especially young Nigerians who would prefer to ‘download a crypto wallet and have quick access to financial services, compared to having to go to a bank.’ He went on to say that amid a ‘broken governance and finance system’ in Nigeria, it is important for young Nigerans to be able to be in a position where they are not ‘dependent’ thereof. Despite the CBN’s directive, the crypto industry still remains very active. An anonymous Bitcoin user told CoinDesk that ‘there’s no stopping crypto, [it’s] the future and we won’t let some old fools take our future from us.’ Analysts suggest that Nigerians will most likely turn to P-2-P platforms to continue trading. Nigeria’s vice president, Oluyemi Osinbajo, sees the CBN’s decision as hindering Nigeria’s ‘efficiency and progress.’ While he understood the concerns surrounding the misuse of VCs in Nigeria, he instead argued for the ‘regulation, not prohibition’ of cryptocurrencies.
Nigeria says bye-bye to Bitcoin Fakhriya M. Suleiman, MA Global Media and Postnational Communication On 5 February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a communiqué stating that ‘dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency is prohibited.’ In line with this directive, the CBN ordered the immediate closure of all accounts operating cryptocurrency exchanges. The CBN said this latest directive was a reiteration of their January 2017 circular. In 2017 they stated that in light of the emergence of virtual currencies (VCs) in Nigeria, which are ‘susceptible to abuse by criminals, especially in money laundering and financing terrorism,’ financial institutions should not ‘use, hold, and/or transact in anyway in VCs.’ The circular also went on to say that Bitcoin, Dogecoin and other VCs are not considered as legal tender by the CBN. This directive comes as Nigeria was identified as having the second largest
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