Female and male students in same house fined for ‘noise’ in Aegean province

ISTANBUL

A students’ house in the Aegean province of Manisa was raided by police late on Nov 9, according to daily Radikal. AA photo

A students’ house in the Aegean province of Manisa was raided by police late on Nov. 9 and the students fined for making noise and questioned about living arrangements, according to daily Radikal.

Three female students sharing the same apartment in Manisa had two male friends as guests in Manisa. Their house was raided by the police at around midnight. The students claimed that the police questioned them about whether it was a co-ed house or the male students were guests. Each of the five students was fined to 88 Turkish Liras for violating the law of misdemeanor on the grounds that they were making noise and there were complaints. The students claimed that they were not making noise and said that they were worried upon seeing the police at their door.

Rasim Ekmekçioğlu, one of the guest students at the house said they were not making any noise. “There were six police officers at the door. They asked for our ID. They asked who was living in that house and whether we were living girls and boys together... We were not making noise. Even if we made noise, why did they ask whether it was a co-ed house,” said Ekmekçioğlu.

Manisa Police Department, however, told daily Hürriyet that the fine was caused by the noise. “The fine was for the noise, not because it was a co-ed house. There was a complaint about the house. We are not interested in who lives where with whom, the police do not fine for no reason,” said an official from the police department who wanted to remain anonymous.