NEWS AND MORE's video: Police detain 69 protesters at rally in support of students

Police detain 69 protesters at rally in support of students Riot police detained 69 people in the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday (February 2) during a demonstration in support of students at a university in Istanbul who have been objecting to the appointment of a new rector by President Tayyip Erdogan, private Demiroren News Agency (DHA) reported. Students and teachers have held protests for the last month against the appointment of Melih Bulu, which they say was undemocratic. On Monday (February 1), scuffles broke out between police and those protesting against the detention of four people after images were shared on social media of them laying a picture on the ground of sacred Islamic imagery with symbols supporting LGBT issues. Police entered the campus later in the day to disperse students who were planning an all-night vigil outside the rector's building and detained 159 in total throughout the day, the governor's office said. A solidarty protest was organised in Ankara on Tuesday to denounce the police raid on Tuesday. Priotesters scuffled with riot police as dozens of people were detained. Erdogan's critics say the president and his AK Party, which promotes conservative Islamic values, have eroded social rights and tolerance during their 18 years in power. Erdogan's supporters say he has restored freedom of religious expression in a once strongly secular republic. Bulu, who applied to be an AKP candidate in a 2015 parliamentary election, was the first rector chosen from outside a university since a military coup in Turkey in 1980, Bogazici faculty members said. (Productiion: Mert Ozkan)