Police raid against UNION
Police have raided the properties of UNION of Transportation (Nakliyat-İş) in Istanbul, Kocaeli and Konya. 10 UNIONists including the president Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu have been taken into custody. It’s rumored that arrests have been applied by the request of the employers.
UNION of Transportation declared a statement later on, saying that police have raided their headquarters in Eminönü (Istanbul) and several other offices in Gebze (Kocaeli) and Konya. The president of the UNION, Ali Rıza Küçükosmanoğlu, had been taken into custody while at home. They’ve also said that due to the prohibitions from the Attorney, they won’t be able to hear from the UNIONists for 24 hours.
It’s rumored that the reasoning of the raid is “to organize an illegal group in order to gain economical profit.” According to rumors the investigation has started by the request of some employers. Transportation of UNION is known for their resolute protests and strikes against the dismissals occurred in big companies like MIGROS and ARCELIK which are runned by the big moguls of Turkey: Koç Family.
UNIONS PROTEST THE RAID
Transportation of UNION is connected to the Revolutionary Workers UNION (DISK). Today, DISK, The Confederation of Public Sector Trade UNIONs (KESK) and Turkish Medical Association (TTB) declared a common statement and protested the disbanding of Democratic Society Party (DTP) and the arrests against the UNION of Transportation. “The arrests are totally unlawful. This is an attempt to destroy the UNIONs in Turkey” said Süleyman Çelebi, the president of DISK. Sami Evren, the president of the KESK, also stated that: “The UNIONs and the freedom of the UNION organizing are under huge oppression from the government. They’re dragging Turkey into chaos. There’s a saying for this in the history and it is called fascism.”
ITUC, The International Trade UNION Confederation, sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the letter, the ITUC have expressed that: “Labor conditions in Turkey are not democratic and it’s full of violations. Turkey has to obey the international laws that they’ve signed before by avoiding the unlawful arrestments and oppressions against the legitimate UNION organizing.”
