Tue Mar 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

Loot, Lies, Collapse

According to the economy minister, Albayrak (Erdogan’s groom), “everything is fine” in the economy. He was not keeping the exchange rate on purpose! However, the Turkish Lira continues to lose value every time he speaks. The dollar is based on TL 9, and the Euro on TL 10! So we get poorer while he talks.

By Esat Erdogan – November 8, 2020

In another speech, he says, “a lot of foreign investment will come soon.” As he speaks, foreign companies go out of the country one by one. Even if they stay, even if they come more, nothing will change. As if the capital of imperialism comes to solve the problems! He always tells the same lie: “the worst has passed”. Aside from the recovery of the economy, they will soon raise the flag of bankruptcy. Central Bank reserves are depleted or even negative. They are bubbling up dream projects such as Black Sea gas and Chanel Istanbul. And sometimes they give “mehter anthem” (Ottoman Empire’s war anthem) as background music, maybe just because we will get excited… Yet the people have no power left to endure poverty. Workers commit suicide out of poverty, while the rich do not get upset. Revolt haunts the poor neighborhoods like a ghost. It’s waiting for his spark.

After hiding the Covid-19 figures for a long time, the health minister admitted that they only wrote down severe cases, especially with the objections of dissident doctors. Even in official figures, the number of patients reached 400 thousand and the number of deaths reached 11 thousand. We know that the real numbers are way above this. Now the disease is near all of us, we can see it. In many cities, there is no room for intensive care. It is very difficult to be admitted to the hospital without being too heavy… People are looking for a favor to be admitted to the hospital. The health minister also recommends “social distance” to the public. He says that if we want, we can stop the epidemic. Is it another government who is forcing workers in factories and offices to work deep down? It is as if someone else drags workers to herd immunity in order not to stop production! Even Covid-19 maps are a clear indication of class division: Workers’ quarters are totally red, Covid-19 is everywhere! Their rich neighborhoods are green and clean … While they are doing their sport and drinking their coffee (socially distant) in their safe neighborhoods, workers are dying in work places to not stop the wheels of the economy! Death and riot surround our neighborhoods.

After the earthquake in İzmir, 114 sisters, brothers and kids are dead. They continue to say “fate”. “What happened to all these earthquake taxes? Why were these buildings not inspected? Why do our children always have to live with death? ” Asking them is a crime! Erdogan and his government accuses us of not living in solid buildings.It’s like someone else has been ruling the country since 2002. The effort to cover up incompetence and shamelessness… They think that their crimes will remain, without any penalty. It hurts us, our anger grows.

Found Guilty

The government is constantly blaming others rather than finding a solution. Erdogan and his clapper blame whoever protests them: “traitor, loot, FETOist (the islamic sect who tried to make an army intervention in 2015), Geziist (who join the Gezi revolt in 2014)” … The most innocent is “ungrateful”. As if it were we, and not them, who plundered the country’s wealth? It is almost forbidden to criticize the government! The equation is as this; government = state = AKP / MHP = Erdoğan.

When the internal enemy is not enough, the warmongering understanding with the Turkish-Islamic synthesis comes into play. One day Greece becomes the enemy, the other day France, Armenia or Egypt. But it is not possible to say that the threat will not turn into war! Erdogan continues to play with fire.

The Oppression of the State is Ready

They want to make workers pay for the negative consequences of both the epidemic and the economy. When the threat is not enough, the “oppression” starts. There, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu steps in, MHP and all dark state apparatus step in.

The economic crisis is strengthening this oppressive policy. Police intervene in even the smallest action. They have no tolerance for workers’ protests, environmental protests and women’s rights. Because all of these actions shake the foundations of the oppressive Palace regime and reveal pillage. Soma miners who want to go to Ankara to the Parliament because they cannot get their salaries and rights have not been executed for months. They are detained over and over again. “By God, we are not afraid of you, we are not afraid of you …” screams union organizing expert Kamil Kartal. When the workers do not back down, they have to meet with miners now. Workers who ask for their receivables from Bimeks have been detained many times at the request of the boss. In many parts of the country, villagers who resist for their lands and for nature, are dragged on the ground. And we can see that this pressure policy will increasingly continue.

But none of them are enough, government is weakening. As it gets weaker, it needs more of its little partners. It is looking for new partners, new enemies. It is attacking to the HDP (Kurdish Party), which caused it to lose the previous election. It is trying to break HDP from the opposition bloc. HDP members are arresting non-stop. Their goal is an election without HDP.

New “Omnibus Laws”

AKP is a bourgeois party and naturally, in all crisis moments, its legal regulations are in favor of the bourgeoisie. Erdogan thinks that the way out of the economic crisis is to relieve the bosses. They also found the exit key to the crisis; by making labor more flexible and more precarious, changing Turkey to a cheap labor haven. The historical gains of working class taking back by them. The AKP / MHP government is about to do what the 12 September 1980 military regime failed!

The “Omnibus Law”, presented by the AKP to the Parliament on November 3, and likely to be passed with AKP / MHP votes, if there is no popular resistance, is the new step of this attack. The so-called employment package opens the way for flexible and uninsured work. Young people under the age of 25 and those over the age of 50 (who are in retirement age) will be able to work flexibly without insurance with a fixed term contract. So this is “come and work for 10 days.” and then I don’t need it anymore, go.” system. No insurance, no regular salary. Flexible, insecure, cheap labor… If the worker works for less than 10 days, long-term insurance premiums will not be paid. Many young people will not reach their retirement in the future.

It has already become legal to send home with 39 TL a day, that is, 1170 TL monthly. The worker can neither receive his salary nor his seniority… Moreover, this money is also covered by the unemployment fund. This is the government’s exit formula!
Of course, laborers started protests against this law. DISK, Petrol-İş trade unions has started demonstrations at workplaces, albeit still weak. Even pro-government TÜRK-iş and pro-government HAK-iş are reactive to the law.

A protest was held in Eminönü (in Istanbul) by a number of workers’ groups, including we(Kırmızı Gazette-Red Newspaper). Labor and Justice Platform, Workers ‘Alliance, Workers’ Own Party, Red Newspaper, Hotel and Tourism Workers Union, Yaşar Usta Emek Portal participated in the action. The working class no longer listens to the pandemic or the police bat. Because the knife is in the bone!

Nothing is without reason! The reason for all that happens to us is this capitalist system… Neither lies nor repression devices can hide this fact anymore. And this repressive regime draws its strength from our weakness and, of course, the violence of the repressive apparatus.

But they are afraid of our anger … They know that we can unite and re-establish the country … And in this fear, not only the AKP, but also the bourgeois opposition the CHP, TUSIAD (general bosses organisations) and MUSIAD (Muslim bosses organisation) unite. They are right to be afraid, because the union of labor struggles with environmental struggles, the democratic demands of the Kurdish people, women’s struggle for life and equality, and of course the youth’s demands for freedom and a secure future, stops these attacks and brings a new order behalf of the workers and the oppressed.

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