“Stop War, Peace Right Now!” Rally Attacked by Bombs

Labour, Peace, Democracy Rally called by left wing trade union confederations and labour organisations (DİSK, KESK, TMMOB and TTB) in Ankara with the main slogan “Stop War, Peace Right Now!” was attacked by bombs. The blasts were in front of the Ankara main train station where unions, parties and other groups were organising their columns just before the beginning of the march. The death toll is above one hundred and there are more than 300 injured.

These bombs take aim at those masses coming up against AKP drifting whole society into crisis, chaos and war. They demanded a peaceful democratic solution to the Kurdish question and raised the slogan “Stop War, Peace Right Now!” Strangely enough, against general Turkish state practice, there was almost no police presence around. But immediately after the blasts, armoured police vehicles came up and attacked with water cannons and tear gas the crowd that gathered around the dead and wounded people on the ground. Although this was a clearly massive massacre with tens of people lying in blood on the ground, ambulances began to arrive only after 30-40 minutes. They were blocked by the police vehicles. All these “measures” were clearly aimed to increase the death toll.

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These bombs are no different than those detonated in HDP rallies in the run up to the 7 June elections and in Suruç on 20 July. It is clear that the police and intelligence services that do anything whenever they wanted did not take any precautions. It is not a coincidence that this attack took place at a time when the upcoming elections are just a few weeks ahead and quite a large section of society is against the warmongering policies of the AKP government. The rulers intend to intimidate broad masses to make them stay away from street actions and pacify them, which means clearing the road for carrying out their plans. This massacre is also an attempt at casting a blow to the quest for peace and fraternity. The rulers seek to maintain their rule by dividing the working masses, sowing seeds of enmity against each other.

As socialist workers who defend the unity of workers and fraternity of peoples and carry on a struggle to stop capitalist exploitation and unjust wars, our hearts are bleeding. Our anger at the rulers grows day by day. We, as UID-DER, extend our condolences to all families of those who lost their lives and also wish immediate recovery to those who are injured.

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We should get rid of Erdoğan and his AKP together with their warmongering policies which set aside the peace process regarding the Kurdish question, plunge the country into crisis and chaos pushing it towards the flames in the Middle East. It is a must to get united and smash the rulers’ schemes on the basis of unity of workers and equality and fraternity of peoples. This is an urgent task more than ever!