In Urfa (Riha), workers of the Özak Tekstil company have been on strike for four weeks defending themselves against bullying, threats and dismissals because of their membership in the BIRTEK-SEN union. The protests in front of the factory have been violently dispersed several times by the Turkish military police. The military police arrived with water cannons and attacked the protesters with high-pressure water, batons and shields.

The organization "Roter Aufbau" organized an action in solidarity with the workers in Urfa at a Levi's store in Zurich. The activists put up a poster on the shop window that said "Levi's! Respect workers right to organize! Solidarity with the strike at Özak Tekstil in Urfa (North Kurdistan)”. In a leaflet they handed out, the activists wrote: “Where do Levi's jeans actually come from? They are made, among others, by textile workers in the Özak Tekstil factory in the Kurdish industrial zone north of Urfa. The workers at Özak Tekstil are forced to work constant overtime, and the women working there are constantly harassed and insulted. The workers went on strike against this."

The activists underlined that the exploitation of textile workers serves Levi's profit. Özak Tekstil and the AKP government refused to listen to the workers' demands and tried to crush the resistance with dismissals, according to the German activists. The government also deployed military police against the strikers and detained union leaders Mehmet Türkmen and Çayan Dursun. Nevertheless, more of the 700 employees are joining the strike and production has now come to a standstill. "Levi's directly profits from this exploitation and oppression in Northern Kurdistan. The textile workers are fighting for better working conditions and we stand by their side in solidarity," said the German activists.