3960 workers killed under Turkey's state of emergency

As the rate of occupational murders escalated by 14 per cent during Turkey's 2-year state of emergency, at least 3960 workers were killed in the meantime
Sunday, 29 July 2018 22:34

Occupational murders in Turkey have increased by 14 per cent under the state of emergency between July 21, 2016, and July 18, 2018, as at least 3960 workers lost their lives in the meantime.

Turkey’s Workers Health and Work Safety Assembly has declared a report on the occupational murders during the state of emergency, which was announced following a failed coup attempt in July 2016. Referring to then-Prime Minister, who said, “The government declared a state of emergency against itself, not the nation,” the report has said that the workers experienced quite the contrary.

The report has underlined that thousands of civil servants were arbitrarily dismissed while the workers who struggled for their rights were fired through the state of emergency decrees while the capitalists enjoyed better conditions. The report has added that the assembly members faced attacks and dismissals because they represented the assembly at many workplaces where they struggled for workers’ health.

ERDOĞAN: “WE DON’T ALLOW STRIKES WITH STATE OF EMERGENCY”

The report has also referred to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who apparently confessed, saying, “We do not allow strikes with the state of emergency,” at a speech he gave in the presence of the country’s top capitalist organizations. Numerous strikes were banned during the state of emergency under the pretext of “national security”.

“The government played a role of strikebreaking,” the report has said, referring to a violent intervention of Turkish security forces upon the striking workers at a metal factory where they were taken into custody. The report lists many cases, in which the workers were forcefully detained with water cannon vehicles while most of the protests, demonstrations or meetings were unlawfully prevented under the state of emergency.

The report has indicated to a speech by Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the president of Turkey’s Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges. “Another area where we suffered great distress was the judicial system. Especially in the cases of the Labor Courts, 99% of which unfairly punished employers. In order to address this, the mandatory mediation system was put into practice. Cases which lasted months, even years, are now resolved in days and weeks,” he said while thanking the government for its pro-market practices in the field of workers’ health and work safety. 

Referring to the government’s anti-labour practices, the report has indicated to a new legal regulation on individual retirement system, through which some insurance companies and monopolies took the control of the mechanism to disperse the social insurance system in defiance of the working people. The report has emphasized that the government imposed a “hired worker” system, catalyzing mass dismissals and eliminating the right to organize.

HIGH INFLATION, LOW WAGES

“The inflation has reached up to 13 per cent formally, the U.S. dollar reached the limit of 5 Turkish Liras, real wages diminished, working hours escalated,” the report has said, indicating to the deteriorating economy, adding that a quarter of the young population is unemployed.

The report has said that although the Ministry of Labour promised to eliminate occupational murders in May 2017 at a ceremony at the construction site of İstanbul’s new airport, 753 workers, including 167 construction workers, were killed in four months following the ministry’s “campaign”.

“The government declared the year of 2018 as the fight against child labour. However, no step was taken to decrease child labour, no improvement was witnessed,” the report has noted. It has concluded that occupational murders escalated during the state of emergency, because the government prevented workers’ participation at workplaces while dismissing their representatives who struggled for labour rights, health and safety.