Vol. 77/No. 23 June 17, 2013
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Unions, youth demand political rights in Turkey |
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Reuters/Umit Bektas
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Tens of thousands of youth, middle-class professionals and unionists took to the streets of Ankara, Turkey’s capital, June 5. Actions in Istanbul and more than 67 other cities have also occurred over the past week.
The protests began in response to police attacks on actions to prevent the government from razing Taksim Gezi Park, the last park in Istanbul’s city center, and turn it into a shopping mall. The actions expanded to press for more political space in the country.
Two youth have been killed, thousands injured and more than 1,700 arrested by the regime of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Two of the country’s largest labor federations, the Confederation of Public Workers Unions and the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions, called a two-day strike beginning June 4 in solidarity with those opposing the regime’s repression.
—JOHN STUDER Related articles: Syria civil war deadlocked, battles spread into Lebanon Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home |