Turkish Unions Demand The Right to Celebrate May 1 in Taksim Square

DISK, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions in Turkey, has launched a major global online campaign in support of the demand to hold a peaceful commemoration of May Day in Istanbul's Taksim Square.  The campaign is being hosted on the LabourStart website

In its campaign, the union points out that giant May Day demonstrations in the 1970s ended in violence, leading to a decades-long government ban on the protests.  In 2013, May Day in Taksim Square was one of the most violent ever.  A press conference called by DISK and other unions last week in Istanbul ended when police attacked with tear gas, arresting a number of union leaders.

"Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan needs to hear a loud and clear message from people around the world," said LabourStart's founding editor, Eric Lee.  "A campaign we launched last year with DISK and other Turkish unions was the largest one we ever did, mobilizing tens of thousands of protest messages. I hope that this year, the Turkish government finally listens and respects the basic human right of working people to organize into trade unions, to protest and to celebrate their international holiday on the first of May."

DISK, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions in Turkey, represents over 320,000 workers and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Confederation.

LabourStart, which was founded in 1998, is the the London-based news and campaigning website of the international trade union movement.  It has a network of over 125,000 supporters around the world.

http://www.labourstart.org/go/taksim

Turkey: For the right to celebrate May Day in Taksim Square

Turkey's first mass May Day demonstrations in Istanbul's Taksim Square took place in 1976, with the participation of hundreds of thousands. A year later, half a million people took part -- but 37 were killed by gunfire. No one has ever been prosecuted for this crime, and for decades the government banned May Day celebrations in Taksim. Attempts to meet there have been met by tear gas, violence and arrests. The violence peaked in 2013 when hundreds were injured. This year, when unions including DISK, KESK and the Chambers of Medicine and Engineers announced that they would once again attempt to commemorate May Day in Taksim, the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded by announcing a ban on the event. When union leaders attempted to hold a small press conference in late April, police responded with tear gas and more arrests. Turkey's trade unionists are demanding their right to celebrate May Day peacefully in Taksim Square, to commemorate the martyrs from 1977, and to call for trade union freedom, a more democratic society, an end to precarious work and better working conditions.

To the Prime Minister Of Turkey and Governorship Of Istanbul

I am deeply concerned about your Government's attitude towards independent trade unions in Turkey, especially because of the police violence against trade unionists which occurred in recent May Day demonstrations. I support the demand of trade unions in Turkey to celebrate May Day in Taksim Square and hope that we won't witness the same police repression, detentions and violence against trade unionists as it happened in previous years. I support the independent trade unions and their struggle for democracy in Turkey.