Public Workers Union Confederation (KESK) co-chair, Aysun Gezen, spoke to the ANF about the HDP's ‘March for Democracy’.

Gezen said that the right of the workers, the unions demanding rights and finally the HDP march were facing obstacles with the excuse of the pandemic.

Gezen said, “In fact, no measures are taken to really counter the pandemic which is cause for great concern and anxiety among people. What the government did was to turn its attention on the rights of the people and how to crush them.”

The government, said Gezen, “sees the pandemic as an 'opportunity' and has made new arrangements that will completely eliminate democratic rights. They want to impose to Parliament a single voice. They want no other voice to be heard nor issues to be addressed other than those they decided. It is necessary to read the attacks against HDP in this context. We know and see very well which are the opposition parties in Parliament really working and defending the people and their rights.”

Gezen added: “With the attempt to criminalize and marginalize the HDP, the government is trying to consolidate its power also by reaching out to the nationalist vein in the society. It is unacceptable to prevent the HDP from doing politics and seeking democratic rights.”

Underlining that the attacks of the government against HDP cannot be separated from the attack on women, through the government's policies, KESK co-chair Aysun Gezen added: “According to the AKP government, women can only exist in the shadow of men. Such an attack on parties that take into account gender equality and attach importance to women's representation in this sense is of course not separate from their political Islamist ideology and their perspective on women. It is very important for women to be the subjects in this society, to make decisions about themselves, to be independent. The most important reason for the AKP attacks is that women's liberation will ultimately destroy its ideology. That's why they are making such attacks on women's gains.”