Turkish Lawmaker Demands Inquiry into Student Deaths in Dormitories

A member of the Turkish Parliament has formally raised concerns about the alarming number of suspicious deaths and suicides occurring in university dormitories. Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a lawmaker from Diyarbakır, has submitted a parliamentary research motion to investigate these incidents thoroughly.

The motion's justification underscores a growing public anxiety surrounding the higher education housing system. It calls for a comprehensive examination of structural problems, the adequacy of psychological support services, the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms, and the operations of community and foundation-run dormitories. The inquiry aims to determine the necessary measures to ensure students' right to housing and safety.

Tanrıkulu's motion highlights that the right to housing is intrinsically linked to the right to education. The state, it argues, has a duty not only to provide physical spaces for learning but also to guarantee students' right to life, mental well-being, safety, and dignified living conditions. However, the increasing frequency of deaths and suicides in both public and private university accommodations in recent years has caused significant public concern.

Recent cases cited include Tuğçenaz Demirelöz in Zonguldak, Muhammed B.G. in Mardin, Zehra Kaçar in Burdur, Halil İbrahim Gökşen in Kırklareli, and Zeynep Dicle Çalışır in İzmir, among others. Many of these cases are being investigated as suspicious deaths, with some officially recorded as suicides. The public's concern extends beyond the immediate causes of death, questioning why the underlying social, psychological, and institutional conditions contributing to these tragedies are not being investigated.

The lawmaker's motion also points to the multifaceted challenges faced by university students in Turkey. These include a severe economic crisis, high rental costs, insufficient scholarships, financial difficulties, anxiety about the future, fear of unemployment, psychological pressures, social isolation, weak support systems, academic stress, living away from family, and housing insecurity. While the impact of these conditions on mental health is scientifically proven, the adequacy of psychological counseling services in state-run dormitories remains unclear to the public. The motion seeks clarity on the number of psychologists employed, access to psychiatric support, the implementation of suicide risk screening, crisis management plans, staff training in psychological crisis intervention, and regular psychosocial monitoring of students.