The resistance launched by 223 workers under the slogan “We will take back our jobs”, led by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DISK) and the DISK Genel-Iş Van (Wan) Branch, continued on its 77th day. Gathering on Art Street, the workers carried a banner reading “The unlawful and unjust dismissal of 223 workers is unacceptable. We want our jobs back. We will resist and we will win,” and frequently chanted slogans such as “Your barricades mean nothing to us,” “Berxwedan jiyan e” (Resistance is life), and “Rights, law, justice.” Representatives of political parties in the city, civil society organisations, and many citizens joined the press statement at the entrance of the street.
Ulaş Akhan engages in identity-based politics
One of the dismissed workers, Sinan Yılmaz, said: “The people rejected the trustee system and its order by clearly expressing their will in all 14 municipalities. However, just as before, this strong will and stance has once again been usurped through plunder, exploitation of labor, and a policy of destruction, normalising unlawfulness.” Yılmaz stated that the arbitrary decisions of the trustees target the rule of law and continued: “The fascist attitude and rhetoric reveal that Ulaş Akhan is not attempting to run a municipality, but rather to engage in politics based on identity. Although these dismissals are justified by so-called archive investigations, we know very well that the real motive is ideological and identity-based.”
Municipalities belong to the people, not the trustees
Yılmaz also said, “Municipalities belong to the people; they are the people’s home. It is the labor and solidarity of workers, laborers, the people and their elected representatives that builds a municipality. Those who roam the city surrounded by a protection force are not representatives of the people; on the contrary, they are illegitimate powers. Trustees and their administrations are not elected; they are bureaucrats appointed in place of those who were chosen by the people. These appointed officials have turned the cancellation of public-benefit projects into a mission, and they have set their sights on the labor, livelihood and bread of workers. Van belongs to us, labor belongs to us, and we will not allow trustees or profiteering circles to pass. Van stands by labor and says ‘No’ to the trustee.”