Why the Trade union movement must redouble its support for the Kurdish struggle and freedom for Öcalan, is the title of the Fringe meeting organised next Monday by unionists at the TUC Congress in Brighton.
The Freedom for Öcalan Campaign, promoted by British unions within the Trade Union Congress, will organise a Fringe meeting at the TUC Congress. The meeting, titled Why the Trade union movement must redouble its support for the Kurdish struggle and freedom for Öcalan, will be held on Monday at the Hilton Metropole – Regency room – at 12.30pm.
The speakers will be:
Simon Dubbins – campaign co-chair and Unite International Director
Vicky Blake – UCU president
Lloyd Russell –Moyle – Labour Party MP
Elif Sarican – Kurdish Peoples Assembly
Mariela Kohon – Senior International Officer TUC
The meeting will be chaired by Doug Nicholls – GFTU General secretary
The organisers said presenting the meeting: “Over the last 12 months there has been a massive increase in violence and oppression by the Erdogan Government against opposition parties, trade unionists, women and Kurds. The Turkish state has now withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention that protects women and girls from violence, thousands of trade unionists and opposition politicians are in jail on terrorism charges, and the Kurdish political leader Abdullah Ocalan has been subject to even more punitive measures despite already having spent more than 20 years in prison in complete isolation. With a presidential election in Turkey due to take place in 2023, there is a very high likelihood that oppression and violence will intensify further.
But the extreme violence and repression of the Turkish state is not confined to its own borders, with the last year witnessing a huge upsurge in Turkish military aggression against Iraq, North East Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan, as well as serious threats against Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean. Yet somehow Turkey has managed to present itself as an honest broker in the Ukraine conflict while NATO turns a blind eye to the naked aggression of one of its own members, and while countries such as Sweden and Finland capitulate to Turkey's demands to support their war on
the Kurds in their desperation to join the NATO military alliance. Join us to discuss what steps we can take to build solidarity and international pressure to support and defend all those inside and outside of Turkey who aspire to democracy, peace, freedom and equality and why the release of Öcalan is so important for peace and stability in the wider region.
