IWG online meeting on state capitalism in the USSR.
DATE
April 22nd, 7 PM EST
WHERE
Online
CONTACT INFO
IG: @iwg.official | Twitter: @IWGOfficial | FB: @iwgusa | Email: us@leftcom.org
Today, 5th June 2013, there is a 'general strike' in Turkey. It is expected that about half a million workers will take part in the strike, which has been organized by five of the 'left' unions, KESK (public sector) DİSK (private sector), EĞTİM-SEN (educatıon), TTMOB (chamber of engıneers), and TOB (chamber of doctors). Since last Friday there have been hundreds of demonstrations in 67 of Turkey's 81 provinces, millions in the streets, at least two people killed, and thousands arrested.
How did this situation emerge in a less than a week? How did a small demonstration against development in a park in İstanbul become a blaze that has burnt across the whole country, and brought in such a huge amount of people. To understand it is necessary to look at some of the background detail.
Of course, it is not the building of one supermarket that has inflamed the whole country. The events in Gezi Park have acted more like a spark to an already existing tinderbox. There are five main causes behind the current conflagration.
When all of these things are wrapped together in Tayip's autocratic abrasive style of semi-imperial rule, it is not a surprise that things erupted as they did.
From Gezi Park to General Strike
After the initial attack by the police in Gezi Park demonstrations spread quickly across the country. In the beginning spontaneously with people just coming out into the streets. Newspapers and TV channels close to the government played down or even barely reported on the issue, but word spread quickly through Twitter and the Internet, prompting Prime Minister Tayip Erdoğan to call social media 'the worst menace to the country'. Twenty four people have since been arrested for the 'crime of posting on Twitter.
The main opposition party the Kemalist Republican People's Party (CHP) organized a large demonstration to march to Taksim, and other protestors, not put off by the closure of the metro, marched across the Bosphorus bridge in their thousands to join the protests. On the morning of June 1st Tayip was declaring that the police were in Taksim to stay, but by 15.45 of the same day they started to withdraw from the square leaving the protestors in control. In other cities the protests turned increasingly violent with police in Ankara dropping tear gas from helicopters, and killing at least one protestor when trying to move demonstrators from the central square.
Other major cities across the country have also seen massive demonstrations with at least one more fatality, in Antakya. In Tunceli there is also a rumor that a protestor has been shot dead. In Izmir the AKP offices were set on fire, and the entire country from major cities, not only in the centre but also in the suburbs, to smaller towns.
The protests seem to be a cross-class movement bringing in all of those who feel anger against the regime. All sorts of political groups are represented there from the far left to the far right. In Taksim square banners with pictures of imprisoned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) leader, Abdullah Öcelan have been unfurled as well as people waving Turkish flags, and even making the Grey Wolf (Turkish ultra-nationalists ) salute.
What of the Working Class?
Of course a mass movement such as this one can't move forward without the power of the working class. Calls for a general strike for Monday started to circulate on Twitter and Facebook on Sunday night though there never seemed much of a chance that they would be taken up although some universities in Ankara and Istanbul did start a strike on Monday along with some hospitals in Ankara who declared they would only deal with emergencies and demonstrators.
The 'left' unions met on Monday to decide upon there response. KESK changed its already organized one day strike to a two day strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, and DİSK, EĞTİM-SEN, TTMOB, and TOB agreed yo join them on Wednesday with large scale demonstrations being organized in the three biggest cities, İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir. Although these organization between them claim easily over one million members it seems reasonable to expect around half a million people to be actually on strike today. An opposition group within the main TÜRK-İŞ union confederation has also issued a statement calling on their members to support the struggle by a long list of methods, the last of which is actually striking.
In the protests around the TEKEL dispute three years ago, it seemed that the movement lost its momentum after the general strike. Workers struggled for months occupying the centre of Ankara, and organizing countless demonstrations, to force their union to call a general strike. When it finally happened, it seemed like nobody had any plans to take the movement forward. With today's general strike as with that one the real question is what happens tomorrow.
Devrim
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IWG online meeting on state capitalism in the USSR.
DATE
April 22nd, 7 PM EST
WHERE
Online
CONTACT INFO
IG: @iwg.official | Twitter: @IWGOfficial | FB: @iwgusa | Email: us@leftcom.org
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Comments
An article entitled 'Doctors, Workers and Teachers Stop Work' is reporting there being 850,000 strikers today: m.radikal.com.tr
Devrim
Link: m.radikal.com.tr
Devrim