A sad anniversary which HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş remembered with a message addressed to the family of miners and the people of Soma.

In his message Demirtaş said: “We do not forget the massacre of Soma and those responsible. The peoples of Turkey witnessed a massacre, exactly four years ago, which brought a pain that will never be forgotten. We have lost 301 people in the mine disaster in Soma”.

Demirtaş added: “Workers in Turkey have lost their brothers in the Soma disaster. A disaster that the AKP government, revealing its cynicism one more time, said it was natural disaster. No, this disaster was not down to nature. The massacre at Soma has clear responsible, with name and surname. This massacre is like the others happening every day in dozens of working places, where inspections are optional”.

Demirtaş underlined that “to secure the protection of the right to life and working conditions of laborers in Turkey has never been a priority of the AKP government. The priorities of the AKP have always been money and profit. The AKP government continued to be on the side of the capital, at the expense of workers and follow policies that actually create the condition for workers to die while working. As a result of these policies, unfortunately during the AKP government, more than 21 thousand workers lost their lives”.

Demirtaş ended his message saying: “I believe that we can bring about a reform of the labour laws making sure that the workers’ health and safety are priorities. There is a need for a labour reform benefiting all workers, miners, farmers, factory workers. I want you to know that we have not forgotten the pain lived in Soma and that we still feel the pain of the people of Soma. We remember those who lost their lives with respect, and I promise that we will continue to seek justice until we get it”.