TKP: We are marching to end this great injustice!

"On the way to May 1st, unity, struggle, and solidarity are the only way out of this nightmare for us, working people," TKP says.
Saturday, 01 May 2021 11:24

Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) salutes May 1st, declaring that the working people will end this great injustice with unity, struggle, and solidarity.

The full statement of the communists is as follows:

For more than a year, we have been living in a big scourge of pandemic. Nearly 3 million people lost their lives. The number of citizens we lost in Turkey due to the pandemic exceeded 30 thousand. The picture we are faced with is too heavy to be able to say “only a pandemic”. We have seen once again that human life is not the priority in this system, and that the interests of the minority of representatives of the exploiting class, that is, the bosses, are above all else.

The words of the ruling party AKP, “We managed the pandemic well, turned the pandemic into an opportunity”, explain well how we live in a ruthless order and how we are ruled by a cheeky government. The working class has clearly seen neither their ability to fight the epidemic nor have such an agenda.

As the Communist Party of Turkey, we are calling:

In the fight against the pandemic, we are organizing around the below-mentioned demands for the health and right to life of our people and marching to May 1st.

For an effective fight against the pandemic, all financial resources and opportunities of Turkey should be mobilized primarily for the health of the people and the right to live humanely.

The restrictions that protect the interests of the capitalist class and are based on religious grounds should be stopped immediately, using the pandemic as an excuse. The state should ensure the basic rights of the people such as job security, health, education, housing, and nutrition so that nothing is lost due to restrictions.

Layoffs should be prohibited, and all unemployed people and those whose workplaces were closed during the pandemic should be paid a wage that they can sustain their lives as long as these conditions continue. Any legal arrangements that may serve as an excuse for layoffs should be removed immediately.

No economic or commercial justification for delaying the vaccination process is acceptable. Immunization of the whole population should be completed free of charge and immediately.

Health care must be provided free of charge at every stage by the state. None of our citizens should be deprived of health services.

Until the pandemic is over, all citizens should be distributed sufficient quantities of qualified masks, sanitizer, and soap, free of charge.

Health workers must be provided with the necessary health arrangements and social security, and necessary measures, including the employment of new health personnel, must be taken immediately.

Our children must be provided with equal and uninterrupted access to education by taking necessary health measures. The right to education must be guaranteed by the state.

Education workers should be tenured immediately, and the shortage of teachers should be overcome.

Loan and credit card debts of wage earners, small farmers, and craftsmen who live with their labor should be deleted, and banks’ foreclosure practices on workers should be terminated.

All citizens should be accommodated in healthy and reliable houses, and their water, electricity, and heating needs should be met free of charge.

The restrictions imposed on trade unions and political activities, meetings, and demonstration marches on the grounds of the pandemic should be completely abolished as long as the necessary rules for health are followed.

On the way to May 1st, unity, struggle, and solidarity are the only way out of this nightmare for us, working people.

We will end this great injustice!

Long live May 1st!