http://themilitant.com/2015/7938/793801.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 38 October 26, 2015
(lead article)
Turkey: Bombing of rally
met with protests, strikes
U.S.-allied gov’t keeps up assault on Kurds
Reuters/Sertac Kayar
Funeral in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Oct. 12 for Abdullah Erol, one of more
than 100 killed in Ankara in bombing of rally opposing government
attacks on Kurds. Protests erupted across country.
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Protests and strikes spread across Turkey after two bombs tore through
an Oct. 10 rally in the capital Ankara opposing government attacks
against Kurds. More than 100 demonstrators were killed and hundreds
wounded.
Kurds, an oppressed nationality throughout the region, make up about
one-fifth of the population in Turkey. Kurdish fighters have driven the
forces of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad out of Kurdish regions and
have been the only effective force pushing back Islamic State and other
reactionary Islamist forces in Iraq as well as Syria. Since July, the
Turkish government, fearful of the growing confidence Kurds in Turkey
have gained from this struggle, has intensified attacks against them
with the tacit support of Washington.
The Oct. 10 protest, which attracted thousands, was backed by the
Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK), Confederation of
Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK), Turkish Medical Association
(TTB), and Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB).
These unions called a two-day strike Oct. 12-13 in response to the
massacre.
“The blasts were at the two sides of the exit of the main train station
in the city where the People’s Democratic Party [HDP] supporters were
gathering,” reported Hurriyet Daily News. The HDP, a sponsor of the
action, is a Kurdish-based party whose substantial gains in June
elections, including beyond Kurdish areas, won over 10 percent of the
vote, gained seats in parliament for the first time, and denied
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a majority.
“I believe the state organized the explosion,” Ali Sogut, 32, a former
Soma miner who was at the protest, told the Militant. “Every time we
have gone to a rally the police stopped the buses and asked for IDs, and
did body searches when we entered the rally area. This time there was
not a single policeman and the buses were never stopped on the way to
Ankara.”
So far no group has taken credit for the bombing. Government officials
at first floated the outlandish claim that the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) could have been involved, but now say that Islamic State is the
prime suspect.
The blast occurred 20 days before Nov. 1 elections, in which Erdogan
seeks to regain a majority for his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“Police teams showed up soon after the blast, as if they had already
been prepared in advance,” Nursel Demir, district co-chair of the HDP in
Mezitli, told Firat News. “Many of the wounded lost their lives due to
the police attack.”
Within hours hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Istanbul,
condemning Erdogan and the AKP for the massacre. Another march and rally
three days later involving unionists and others was banned by Istanbul
authorities, but hundreds showed up anyway.
On Oct. 11 thousands chanting anti-government slogans who marched again
to the train station area where the blasts took place, were met with
police attack.
As bodies of those killed were brought back to cities and towns
throughout the country, protesters joined those carrying the coffins in
anti-government demonstrations. “About 10,000 participated in the
funeral ceremony in Izmir province for two women killed in the blast,”
Cafer Alp, an electrician and member of the DISK union who attended the
Oct. 12 event, told the Militant. “Many then joined a demonstration that
afternoon.”
Thousands marched through the southeastern city of Diyarbakir the same
day; nearly 1,000 in Mersin in the south; 500 in Bursa in the west.
Other solidarity rallies included 1,000 in Toronto and 500 in Paris.
Turkish gov’t deal with Washington
The Turkish government’s attacks on the Kurdish people in both Iraq and
southeastern Turkey have accelerated since July, when Washington and
Ankara announced a deal to allow U.S. warplanes to use Turkey’s Incirlik
air base to conduct airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria. The
government said it was joining Washington’s “coalition,” but its focus
has been on targeting Kurds. About 15 million Kurds live in Turkey, with
millions more in Syria, Iraq and Iran. They have a long history of
fighting for a homeland and against national oppression.
The attacks are carried out under the pretext of fighting the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK), branded terrorist both by Ankara and Washington.
Erdogan’s government and the PKK, which had fought Ankara’s oppression
for decades, reached a cease-fire agreement in 2013. The president
abrogated it in July. Since then the PKK has targeted government troops
and police while the government has opened up a broader assault. On Oct.
10 the PKK announced a pre-election cease-fire, saying it would only
respond if attacked.
In the Kurdish region, 113 people have been killed since the government
offensive began, the great majority of them civilians, Turkey’s Human
Rights Association reported Oct. 9. Hundreds have been arrested, curfews
imposed on entire cities, and HDP offices attacked.
Day- and weeklong curfews have also been imposed in a number of cities,
with phone and electricity services cut out. The highest number of
civilian deaths have occurred in these towns, including many who were
denied access to medical care, Human Rights Association President Ozturk
Turkdogan told Firat News.
Erdogan hopes these attacks and acts of intimidation against Kurds will
result in the AKP winning an outright majority in the November
elections, enabling him to expand the executive powers of the presidency.
Meanwhile, the Kurds have been continuing protest actions against the
government’s discriminatory practices. More than 80 percent of teachers
and students across the Kurdish provinces boycotted Turkish schools on
opening day demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language.
Yasemin Aydinoglu contributed to this article.
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Russian airstrikes, Syrian ground offensive back Assad dictatorship
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