In Response to the Crime of the Century and the System of Plunder, the Working Class Will Say “Enough is Enough” on May Day!

Workers, toilers, sisters and brothers!

We are passing through one of the most critical periods in Turkey’s history. On one side there is a desire for change that has been brewing from within the bosom of the society, which manifests itself in every sphere of life. On the other side stands a rotten and repressive one-man regime, which is in a continuous effort to stifle the desire for change. Under this regime, the working class in Turkey has suffered the greatest impoverishment since the founding of the Republic. When all power was concentrated in the hands of one man, this would allegedly bring about an efficient administration, a flourishing economy, a developing country, and finally, prosperity for all. In reality, however, the exact opposite has been the case. The country has been turned into rubble in every sphere. And people ended up suffocating. 

For years, the country has been ruled under one-man regime, in a constant state of emergency. All democratic rights have been suppressed. Society has been subjected to a continuous repression. Those who raised their voices for freedom, who addressed problems and who criticised regime’s policies have been labelled as traitors. Even the slightest struggle for rights has been crushed by police violence. Workers who stood up for their rights have been confronted by an army of police. In many sectors and workplaces, strikes have been banned. Thus, workers have been tied hand and foot in front of the bosses. For the first time in the history of the Republic, income per capita has declined for 8 years in a row. In the ranking of the world’s largest economies, Turkey dropped from 16th to 21st place. Workers and toilers have suffered a terrible impoverishment. In the meantime, the bosses broke profit records, enjoying an unprecedented share of wealth. In today’s Turkey, 13 billionaires have more wealth than 44 million people. This figure alone is enough to prove that workers have been plunged into a downward spiral of poverty. Since 2015, which was a milestone in the formation of the one-man regime, labour share (wages) of the national income has plummeted from 34% to 25%, which illustrates the appalling impoverishment suffered by the working class. The picture is crystal clear: This regime is on the side of and at the service of the capitalists. Standing against the working class, it continuously attacks workers’ rights!   

Sisters and Brothers!

Using all the media and state apparatus at its disposal, this regime has always presented itself as an almighty power. Following the 6 February earthquakes, however, the whole society practically witnessed the absolute rottenness and disintegration of the regime. Those who had long parroted the mantra “great country, strong leader” failed to access the earthquake zone during the first 3 days! For years, scientists warned about a potential earthquake and its destructive outcomes. Yet the regime took no measures apart from staging shows in the form of childish drills such as “drop-cover-hold”. The rulers of this regime openly state that they are running the country like a firm. Concepts such as “society” or “public interests” are totally alien to their mindset. They desire to stay in power and plunder public resources at all costs, without the slightest regard for society. Indeed, under one-man regime, all the braking mechanisms have been removed. With qualified cadres being liquidated and public institutions being undermined, public services have become increasingly inadequate in quality. Public institutions have been filled with incompetent and greedy people who only care about getting their slice from the plunder.  

It is this regime that turned the earthquakes into one of the biggest disasters in history. In order to mask the heavy burden put on the back of the society, they keep parroting the mantras “disaster of the century” and “destiny’s plan”. If we lend credence to this propaganda, this would pave the way for much greater disasters in the future. As workers, we all must ask the following questions: Why does the “Destiny’s plan” offer workers nothing but dying in mine accidents, earthquakes, floods or occupational accidents? If the public resources had been used in the interests of the people, if the construction works had not been corrupted for fat profits, if plunder and easy profits had not been prioritised, if there had been no amnesty for flimsy buildings, if sound buildings had been built, would the earthquakes have been so destructive? If the regime had taken the necessary measures, mobilised its resources and cooperated with non-governmental organisations, would tens of thousands of people have died? The answer to these questions is obvious: It is the greedy capitalist one-man regime that is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands and suffering of millions. Those who have labelled everyone as “traitor” for years ravaged our country and plunged the society into destruction! The society and the working class in Turkey must never forget this atrocity!

Sisters and Brothers!

The society in Turkey is undergoing a complex, painful and multi-layered transformation. In fact, we saw the clear sign of the desire for a change and transformation among society when the AKP lost its parliamentary majority in the 7 June 2015 elections. It was no accident that the same year saw the outbreak of the wave of strikes called “the Metal Storm” and many other massive struggles for rights within the ranks of the working class. But in order to remain in power, the AKP denied the election results and conducted a chaos policy aimed at intimidating the society. The elections were renewed in such an atmosphere on 1 November, with the AKP and its leader Erdoğan coming out victorious. Thus started the formation process of the one-man regime. For a while, the desire for change in the society had been stifled. But at the same time, this would prepare the ground for a much greater wave of change!

A repressive regime can by no means stifle the desire for change forever. For years, we have been pointing out the following facts in the pages of İşçi Dayanışması [Workers’ Solidarity]: The 90% of Turkey’s population live in towns. A vast majority of them are workers. Women are increasingly coming to the forefront in all spheres of life. There are millions of unemployed, many of whom are university graduates. Impoverishment is getting intensified while needs are becoming increasingly diversified. Millions of young people are concerned about their future, trying to go abroad. Such a state of affairs is unprecedented for the society in Turkey. Amidst such a social change and transformation and with workers desiring better living conditions, the one-man regime kept parroting false narratives. Lacking the energy and ability to solve the heaped problems, the regime did everything in its power to incite domestic and international political frictions in order to stifle the emergence of common sentiments among society. It made numerous moves to foment divisions within society along religious, ethnic and cultural lines. But it failed. With its vote base and public approval eroding, it became weaker and weaker.

Sisters and Brothers!

Because of this regime, the earthquakes turned into a terrible disaster. The regime is once again seeking to stifle the desire for change in the society. It is the task of all workers to develop a common will and struggle against this regime. As shown by the earthquakes once again, to form a strong society, we need much stronger trade unions, socialist workers’ organisations and parties and a higher number of civilian organisations! In this regard, the presence of the Labour and Freedom Alliance is of utmost importance as it represents those who defend labour, democracy, women’s rights and human rights. Supported by various parties and organisations including UID-DER, the Alliance is fighting to put an end to the one-man regime, to put into practice democratic mechanisms, to solve democratic questions and to defend the interests of the working class. While voting for the termination of the one-man regime personified by Erdoğan, we must also vote for the Labour and Freedom Alliance and its socialist, pro-labour and pro-democracy candidates.

Let us never forget that the elections are part of the struggle! We all know that the regime placed its hope in suppression and chaos policies. Therefore, in the lead-up to the 14 May elections, we need to voice the general mood of change in the society in a bold and determined manner in every sphere of life. Only workers’ will and struggle can foil the dirty plots of the regime and open up a new chapter. At May Day rallies, we must strongly proclaim that the overwhelming majority of the society wants to get rid of this regime! To this end, on May Day, the day of unity, struggle and solidarity of the working class, let’s fill the squares across Turkey and demonstrate our will for change!