Protesters gathered in front of Galatasaray Highschool in Beyoğlu, central Istanbul, yesterday (11 March) to protest against the detentions of around 50 people, mostly members of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed (ESP) and the Atılım newspaper.

Political parties and pro-democracy organisations said that such detentions prior to the local elections were a clear attack.

Among those supporting the protest were the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), the Revolutionary People’s Union (DHB), the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP), the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Turkey Freedom Platform (TÖP), the Socialist Solidarity Platform (SODAP) and the Union for Struggle.

The group of protesters shouted slogans such as “ESP is hope and hope is standing strong”, and “You are not strong enough for us, we will win”.

"Anti-Society Law"

ESP spokesperson Ersin Sedefoğlu said:

The police has used the Anti-Terrorism Law, which intellectuals and socialists have renamed the Anti-Society Law, to raid democratic institutions and newspapers with their guns at night. Without waiting for lawyers, they broke down doors and carried out searches. Waking up people at night, terrorising them and taking them into custody has become routine practice.”

He pointed out that these practices were rights violations, but that legal institutions were legitimising them.

“Some media organs are also portraying the police, which is out on hunts for humans, as acting legitimately; some newspapers even reported that institutions that were not raided were raided.”

“The freedom of speech, action and organisation is being withheld from the people; the police is free to terrorise with random detentions and conspiracies. It is forbidden to tell the people the truth, to protest against workers paying the price for the crisis, to say no to a dirty war, to ask for peace and brotherhood; however, others are free to carry out coups, to bomb people, and to support the gendarmerie officers caught throwing a bomb by saying that they are ‘good kids’.”

Dissident voices silenced

Sabahat Tuncel, MP for the DTP in Istanbul, criticised the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for pretending to take steps towards democracy in order to fool the EU, but at the same time eliminating dissident voices.

Tuncel said that anyone trying to speak out for the oppressed or in the Kurdish question was likely to be exposed to such arbitrary practices.

Kamber Saygılı, general secretary of the Limter- İş shipbuilders’ trade union, said that he was a candidate for the working class, which for the AKP was riff raff. He said that he would respond to this oligarchy in the general elections of 29 March. (ZK/EZÖ/AG)