Occupation of Starbucks in Boğaziçi University is going on!

On December 6, we began the occupation of the new Starbucks cafe at Boğaziçi University. The occupation is now on its seventh day. We are here 24 hours a day. We study, cook and eat our own food, read poetry, and watch movies together. We enjoy music and listen to the open lectures of academics who come to show solidarity with us. We have not only taken control of this commercial space, but also opened its doors to anyone who desires to contemplate, produce, and share.

The number of occupiers rises with every passing day. In spite of this rapid increase in our numbers, we have chosen to avoid mechanisms of representative democracy in our decision-making processes. Our general assemblies, which take place each day, are open to everyone and are organized on the basis of participatory democracy. We do not hesitate to spend long hours discussing even the most minor issues when necessary. We are attempting to open up a space that is not subject to capitalist temporality.

The first action that the university rectorate took was to threaten us with an investigation. Even though there has not yet been a physical intervention, every day undercover police and private security guards make their presence felt. The administration also attempts to marginalize us by claiming that occupation as a method of protest is violent by nature. However, we are merely reclaiming what already belongs to us.

We organized this occupation as a matter of practical necessity: The need for clean, healthy, and cheap food on campus. At the beginning of this semester, the only student canteen where a variety of relatively expensive food had been available was closed and part of its space was rented out to Starbucks, a multinational franchise that does not meet our needs. We tried to express ourselves through open meetings and protests against this change that was  instituted without consulting the students and workers of the university. But the rectorate did not recognize us as a party to the issue. That is why we decided that it was time to take back what already belongs to us and why we continue to occupy this space.