Turkish students petition for a 'Jedi temple' on campus

IZMIR, Turkey, April 9 (UPI) -- More than 6,000 students at a Turkish university have signed a petition calling for a Jedi Temple on campus "to bring balance to the Force."

The Change.org petition, which had more than 6,000 signatures Thursday, was created by students at Dokuz Eylul University amid controversy stemming from an announcement last month from Istanbul Technical University rector Mehmet Karaca that his school would be getting a "landmark mosque" after a petition calling for a mosque on campus received nearly 200,000 signatures.

The ITU announcement also led students at that school to start a petition to found a Buddhist temple on campus, a request with more than 20,000 signatures.

The Dokuz Eylul University petition says supporters are seeking the construction of a Jedi temple like those seen in the Star Wars films "to recruit new Jedi and to bring balance to the Force."

The petition says "uneducated Padawan," the apprentice Jedi from the films, are "drawn to the dark side" because they lack the knowledge to "control their power."

The petition states a "Jedi Council" would be created in the temple to "train and raise" new Jedi knights.

Census data collected last year indicates Turkey is 99.8 percent Muslim, with less than .2 percent identifying as Christian or Jewish.