http://www.sendika.org/english/yazi.php?yazi_no=7010
Textile Workers’ Union in Turkey, Tekstil-Sen: “The people of Lebanon, Palestine or the Kurds do not want war”
06 August 2006 –
August 06, 2006
Tesktil-Sen, the Textile Workers’ Union, showed its support for the Palestinians and Lebanese against Israel in a press release held in Şirinevler town of Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey. The participants opened a large banner reading, “People of Palestine and Lebanon are not alone! Resistance will Win in the Middle East” which drew support from the residents of the town who clapped, cheered and participated in the rally.
The president of Tekstil-Sen, Mrs. Ayşe Yumli Yeter said, by being silent about Israeli aggression, the rest of the imperialists were supporting the US and by doing so they aimed at destroying the forces behind the anti-imperialist resistance in the Middle East. She also said the Arab regimes were collaborating by being silent in the face of this massacre. She reminded, in the press release, that even the Lebanese state and the army refused to engage in a conflict with Israel and invited the murderer of the people, Rice, to Lebanon.
She said, “In Turkey, the capital tied closely to US imperialism and the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government are doing nothing but shedding crocodile tears. They are lying through their teeth everyday to both our people and the people of Palestine and Lebanon by appearing on TV and declaring that they are doing everything possible. They are lying because while they could, they refuse to cancel diplomatic and military relations with Israel. They are lying because they refuse to cut economic relations with Israel. They refuse to cancel the sale of many public sector industries, land sales at national river dams, natural gas sales from Baku-Ceyhan gas pipe to Israel. The government of the Capital and this JDP are collaborationist and are on the side of Israel. Neither capital nor this government is interested in the pains of the Lebanese or the Palestinians; they are interested in being a slave to the US imperialism. The Israel Friendship Group their Assembly representatives are a member of proves this point.”
Mrs. Ayşe Yumli Yeter repeated the common demand of the people by asking to cancel all agreements with Israel and the US. She also demanded that, whether the war continues or not, Turkey should never send an army to Lebanon.
While the speaker read the press release, the crowd frequently repeated energetically the slogans, “Kurdish people demand an honorable, democratic peace”, “Murderer Israel, Collaborationist JDP Government”, “Resist Lebanon! We are on your side!”, “Long live the brotherhood of the people”
Another important parallel with Israel’s war with the Middle East was drawn on Turkey’s conflict with its Kurdish population.
The speaker said, “They are trying to resolve the Kurdish question by denying the democratic rights of the Kurds with blood and war. You can not resolve these issues by war or military operations. The Kurdish people are demanding an honorable, just, democratic peace. We don’t want neither the mothers of the soldiers nor the Kurds to shed tears. We demand an end to the military operations and answer to the democratic wishes of the Kurds and an end to more bloodshed.”
In the declaration, emphasis was given to the brotherhood between the peoples of Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Kurds and to extend a hand to them. A call was done for the laborers and the people to hear the cries of the people in the Middle East suffering from Israeli and US aggression and to give a hand to them.
The rally ended with burning an Israeli flag.
