ISTANBUL, TURKEY
Thousands poured to the streets for the ‘We Want to Live Humanly’ rally organized by the Labor and Peace Democracy Forces in Bakırköy Market Square. The action was held against poverty, rising unemployment and exploitation.
DİSK, KESK, TTB and a large number of political parties and democratic mass organizations participated in the rally, including the HDP MPs Züleyha Gülüm, Oya Ersoy, and Musa Piroğlu.
Thousands gathered at Dikilitaş and marched to the market square in the form of cortege. Women participated in the colorful cortege with the slogan “We don’t want to die.”
Among the most enthusiastic cortegees, HDP and HDK attracted attention. The anger of the HDP members were reflected in slogans against the operations of political genocide, the appointment of trustees and the attacks on Rojava; the youth chanted “Bijî berxwedana Rojava, Repression cannot intimidate us, Bijî Serok Apo”, and “unemployment is AKP.”
In the area where fascist policemen formed three separate search points, the exploitated thousands became one organisation against the policies of the occupiers.
Shouting slogans at the police, the youth were heard saying “we want wages and working conditions worthy of human dignity”, “will not surrender to poverty and misery”, “Use the people’s budget for democratic Turkey not war”, “The poor, unemployed and insecure, stand one against the crisis”, “no to war, budgets to education”,” Let’s end the killing business”, and “exploitation, palaces, appointments, we want a free and equal life in Turkey.”
At the entrance to the rally, the fascist police specifically targetted the HDP youth who did not want to bring a banner down. The banner written by the youth read: “Let’s unite against exploitation and defeat fascism.” The fascist police detained Sabri Işık.
The rally began with a minute of silence for those who lost their lives in the struggle for democracy and freedom. Özlem Talu and Özkan Öztürk made a joint statement on behalf of İstanbul Labor, Peace and Democracy Forces.
In a statement, the representatives recalled that electricity prices have increased by 72 percent and natural gas prices by 60 percent in the last two years, “The market is burning hands. 1 percent of the population holds 54 percent of national wealth, and 92 percent of income tax is paid by laborers.”
The minimum wage negotiations were mentioned, the representatives stated: “They want to condemn us again to wages of slavery. The 2020 budget was adopted by the Plan and Budget Commission. Again, poverty and misery fell to the workers’ share. As of November 2019, 7 million 305 thousand people are unemployed. 2 million women are unemployed. 3.5 million young people are neither in education nor in employment. The poor quality of education and the future of the youth is bleak. Thousands of workers and their families are doomed to starvation with concordatos, bankruptcies and downsizing decisions. With successive hikes, growing taxes, shrinking wages and unemployment, millions of laborers struggling in the debt swamp are doomed to starvation.
Life is getting harder and harder for the people who live by their own labor. Our people cannot take bread to their homes because of the difficulties of livelihood. Those in power announce the fictitious ‘New Economic Programs’, expecting us to believe in inflation and growth targets that will never hold. They make excuses for the political and economic crises they create; They say there is a coup attempt, they say ‘there is war, they silence the voices of those who want a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, they even ban the words of war and peace.
Elections ignore the right to be elected, the will of the electorate; they are trying to win the elections they lost in the ballot box with the YSK coup, they remove the elected mayors with the votes of the majority of the people, they replace those elected with their own officers as trustees. They’re a handful, we’re millions. Our strength is in our unity. ”
The rally ended with the revolutionary songs performed by Grup Vardiya.
