Operation against KESK trade unions

On Thursday, members of the KESK trade union confederation for public employees were taken into police custody. While six were released on Friday, 28 have been detained since. They were taken to court on Sunday (31 May) morning.

Among those in detention are Abdurrahman Başdemir,  KESK's former general secretary, Songül Morsümbül, member of the central executive board of the KESK trade union confederation and women's secretary, as well as Gülçin Isbert, women's secretary of the educational Eğitim-Sen trade union, which is part of the KESK confederation.

Protests around the country

On Sunday trade union members took part in torch marches in Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Adana, Mersin, Antakya, Diyarbakır, Samsun, Eskişehir, Bursa, Artvin, Samsun, Manisa and Gaziantep.

There had been protests around the country on Friday and Saturday, too.

In Ankara, Istanbul and Bursa, the police put up barricades to stop the marches.

In Ankara, around 2,000 people attempted to march to the Prime Ministerial Office on Friday, but the police prevented the march, after which KESK members blocked roads for three hours. In Bursa, protesters blocked a road for 1.5 hours.

Akman Şimşek, member of the central managing board of KESK, took part in a march in Izmir. He said, "Those who carried out this operation against KESK must know that they have hit hard rock this time."

A crowd of around 1,000 people trying to march from Galatasaray in Istanbul on Friday evening was obstructed by the police. The protesters blocked the road for around four hours and then read a press statement. On Saturday, protests were carried out in a park in Bakırköy, Istanbul. (EÜ/AG)