The Labor and Democracy Platform, an association of progressive and labor organizations and political parties, demonstrated against the recent rise in fascist attacks in the country. Following government’s lead, many fascist, nationalist, and racist groups have intensified their attacks on Kurdish workers, Roman people, and citizens of different ethnic or religious backgrounds. On Saturday, the […]
The Labor and Democracy Platform, an association of progressive and labor organizations and political parties, demonstrated against the recent rise in fascist attacks in the country.
Following government’s lead, many fascist, nationalist, and racist groups have intensified their attacks on Kurdish workers, Roman people, and citizens of different ethnic or religious backgrounds.
On Saturday, the Labor and Democracy Platform members and their supporters gathered in front of KESK, the progressive Confederation of Public Workers Unions and marched through this southern town having a large Kurdish population. Kurds were forced to flee from their homeland in the late 80’s and 90’s when the Turkish military brutally attacked the eastern part of the country and forced the citizens to abandon their homes and fields. The Turkish military was following the “scorched earth” tactic used by the US in Viet Nam to empty the land from the people.
The fleeing Kurds caused tensions to rise in many places they were deported when the racists and nationalists organized open attacks on them. It became hard for the Kurds to defend themselves when the government showed the entire ethnic population as the cause of “terror.” Once removed from their home land, the Kurds became minority in other cities becoming easy target for racists to score easy hits while employers exploited this situation by forcing the Kurds to work at slave wages.
The progressive and labor organizations protested the lynching attempts seen on all corners of the country. Kurd and Arab speakers spoke to the crowd in their own language which is a dangerous act in Turkey because the state does not tolerate any other language, ethnicity, or culture except the officially recognized Turkish. While reciting the events in other parts, the group called attention to a recent assault in Mersin.
While the crowd chanted, “Long live the brotherhood of all people,” the speaker, Kenan Hazar, the representative of the Platform in Mersin said the racists were trying to provoke an ethnic war between Kurds, Turks, Arabs, and Romans.
An event in Kazanli, a town in Mersin district, escalated beyond control recently. A fight between two high school students was deliberately twisted and rumors of “Kurds are here to beat the Turks” spread. Soon, the event turned into a street brawl of more than 200 people. Being under attack, the Kurdish students took refuge in the school and finally had to be escorted out by the security forces. 15 people were arrested during the incident.
Sendika.Org / Mersin
