The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) released a comprehensive report regarding the first anniversary of the ongoing state of emergency declared following the last year’s failed coup. The report demonstrates that the aborted coup has become an ‘excuse’ for the government to implement anti-labour policies in the country.
RIGHT TO WORK IS ELIMINATED
Indicating to the greatest official purges of the Republican era, the report states that 112,530 civil servants have been dismissed in Turkey during the state of emergency declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) since the aborted coup on July 15, 2016. The report of DİSK reveals that the recent dismissals extended by far the size of previous purges during the two military coups of 1960 and 1980, considering that only five thousands were sacked following the horrific coup of September 12, 1980.
The report demonstrates the striking aspect of the recent purges: “The purges in public sector extended the limits of the fight against the coup and putschists, contravening the basic principles of the state of law. While the political elements of the coup attempt have not been disclosed, no procedure has been carried out regarding those who tolerated the putschist organisation to occupy the state and those who cooperated with them.”
Turkey’s left leaning trade union DİSK’s report shows that over one hundred thousand civil servants were sacked from public posts without concrete evidence, the right of defence and fair trials. Moreover, the purged officials were prevented from finding jobs in private sector.
The report states that 506 municipality workers, members of DİSK, were fired through the government’s emergency decrees. The number of the workers whose labour contracts were cancelled is 1456 at such municipal offices to which the government appointed its trustees. The report adds that many trade union members were sacked on the grounds that they shared data via their social media accounts about the occupational murders and workers’ health in Turkey. It is also stated that 5597 academics were purged from universities.
NO FAIR TRIAL FOR DISMISSED LABOURERS
The DİSK report points out to the fact that the AKP government also closed the procedures for the fair trial of dismissed labourers whose right to work was eliminated. Furthermore, Turkey’s administrative jurisdiction carried out the decision of non-jurisdiction regarding the emergency decrees while the Constitutional Court avoided from the decrees, thus the European Court of Human Rights did not accept the appeals since the internal legal procedures were not fulfilled.
The report emphasises that many universities, hospitals, foundations, associations, newspapers, televisions, journals, publishing houses were shut and their assets were transferred to the Treasury or the Directorate General of Foundations during the one-year-long state of emergency. Meanwhile, the government removed the worker’s receivables by means of the decrees. The report sets forth that the government must compensate the workers’ wages and rights.
Indicating that trade unions were not shut down even when the putschists took over the government with a coup in 1980, the report states that trade unions cannot be shut down by means of emergency decrees, which, otherwise, could pose confliction with the Constitution.
WORKERS’ STRIKES BANNED UNLAWFULLY
According to the report, the government imposed bans on many workers’ strikes and trade union activities and prevented meetings and press conferences. During the state of emergency since July 2016, five big strikes, including two strikes of metal workers, were banned due to “threat to national security”. The report underlines that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as the President and head of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), personally stated during his speeches to the capitalist organisations that the cancellations of strikes were a part of the state of emergency. The DİSK report shows that it is unlawful to ban workers’ strikes even under the state of emergency.
Consequently, the DİSK report says that Turkey’s state of emergency has become the excuse of violating the workers’ rights. Referring to the government’s expression, “The state of emergency is not declared against the nation”, the report asks, “If the two-third of the country’s citizens, who maintain their lives with their labour, is not included in the ‘nation’, then who is the ‘nation’?”
Putting forth that they will continue to struggle for the removal of the state of emergency, the DİSK report concludes: “The resisting workers shall be victorious!”
