In Ankara, the police intervention happened very harshly towards workers and laborers protesting against law draft called ‘Bag Draft’ while the policemen are preventing them to make demonstration against it. This draft, which is being negotiated at the Turkish National Assembly, contains the Labor Law and the Civil Servants Law as two main laws adjusting work life. It also covers the Social Security law and the Law on Unemployment Fund. Thus, as being trade unions of workers and civil servants, the KESK, DISK, TMMOB and TTB have right to demonstration in order to protest against such law draft. Also, the members and executives of our association attended to this demonstration.
The AKP government increasingly limits the right to demonstration and bans the demonstrations by using police violence. Today, even though there are 10.000 demonstrators, the number of policemen doubles this number. Numerous policemen surrounding thoroughfares caused horror atmosphere during the demonstration. The government prevents the right of demonstration of the nationals through such understanding of a police state. Today we all experience such practice of the police state in Ankara. All trade unions and confederations which wanted to make peaceful demonstration had to face such police state.
Additionally, students in Turkey often experience such police state practices during their protestations. Banning and suppressing demonstrations of students in harsh ways became regular treatment of the state. The demonstrations of students became so-called nightmares of the state.
International human rights organizations often mention such practice of police violence during the demonstrations which bans the right to the demonstration in Turkey in their reports. It is quite contrary that the government support democratic demonstrations in other countries while it prevents them by using police violence in its own country. The government shows an authoritarian understanding of governance which is called ‘police state’.
What happened today highlights us the right to demonstration became unavailable in Ankara. We condemn this behavior of the state called ‘the police state’.
Human Rights Association