Turkish students can't find shelter

Turkish students are staging an unusual protest, holding night demonstrations as part of a movement called “We Can’t Shelter”. Hundreds of them are spending nights in parks urging the government to take measures to limit rents and increase student housing.

As rents have become almost unaffordable, the difficult situation has motivated many students to air their grievances in public. For days now, students all across Turkey , more than 2,240 of them have been spending the night in public parks.

Turkish police instigated a violent clampdown on demonstrators. Eighty students participating in the protests were detained in Istanbul and Izmir provinces.

The police action had the effect of increasing public interest in the students' unorthodox protest. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu attempted to justify the police deployment by claiming that the majority of the protesters were not students.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the students over the weekend, accusing them lying about what they see as a housing crisis.

This is not the first time that Erdogan has clashed with students. In early January, he appointed Melih Bulu rector of Istanbul's prestigious Bogazici University by presidential decree. In recent years, the government has tried to gain more influence over universities.

Students and academics at the university said the appointment was "not legitimate" because Bulu is a member of Erdogan's ruling Law and Justice Party. Weeks of protests followed, during which numerous people were arrested. The president also likened the student protesters to "terrorists" at the time.

The student protests arrived amid soaring inflation in the country, which has reached around 20 percent since last year, causing basic needs such as housing to be inaccessible to many.

Turkey’s university students increased from 1.6 million to 8.4 million over the 18-years in power by the Erdoğan government, according to official figures.