On April 14, in spite of a heavy police presence and bans on demonstrations in 20 provinces, tens of thousands took to the streets of Istanbul and other cities to protest government austerity measures following the collapse of the national currency, the lira, and a near financial meltdown in February.

The marches were organized by Emek Platformu (Labor Platform), a coalition formed by 15 major labor unions in Turkey that represent more than 1 million workers. Forty thousand unionists marched in Istanbul alone. In Ankara the union coalition did not carry out a protest after city authorities, in the wake of earlier clashes, banned demonstrations, and police announced that those who defied the ban would "definitely be hurt."

Carrying signs that read "We want job security," "Save workers and public sector employees--not bankrupt banks," and "No to the International Monetary Fund," marchers denounced government measures to stop most public hiring, freeze public employees' wages except for inflation adjustments, cut the federal budget by 9 percent, and sell off the state-owned airline, petroleum, and sugar industries.

Officials of the International Monetary Fund, which operates in the interests of finance capitalists from the United States and other imperialist countries, are demanding that Ankara take these measures to qualify for $10 billion to $12 billion in aid requested by the government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Turkey, a country of 65 million, has a foreign debt of $104 billion, or $1,600 per capita. Turkey's per capita income was $2,900 in 1999.

With the lira losing 40 percent of its value since mid-February, an estimated 500,000 people have lost their jobs in Turkey. Inflation has shot up to 34 percent this year.

According to the British Broadcasting Company, demonstrations have been a daily occurrence for the past two weeks. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities across Turkey March 30.

More than 130,000 people marched throughout the country April 11. Some 70,000 protesters, many of them small proprietors, clashed with police in Ankara, the capital city, that day. One hundred were arrested, and 202 injured, including 137 policemen. Some 40,000 people marched in the Aegean port city of Izmir, where shopkeepers refused to open for business as part of the protest action. Another 20,000 took to the streets in the central Anatolian city of Konya. In the southern cities of Gaziantep and Mersin, protesters set fire to photocopies of U.S. dollars.  
 
'Tighten our belts'
While working people were marching April 14, Turkey's new state minister, Kemal Dervis, outlined the government's latest austerity program at a press conference. He stated, "We all should tighten our belts." Two days later the World Bank, another organization representing U.S., European, and Japanese finance capital, issued a statement applauding the government's "emphasis on structural policies" and on "measures to improve the climate for foreign direct investment." The same day a statement from the U.S. embassy in Ankara called Turkey "an important ally and good friend of the U.S.," and pledged that Washington "will continue to be supportive of Turkey as it moves forward with its program."

The Washington Post, however, reported, "Many analysts had questioned whether the government has the will to carry out harsh economic measures," and Dow Jones Newswires referred to the "political disintegration danger" that is looming.

The Council of Ministers announced April 16 that the government would reverse its decision to raise interest rates on agricultural loans, and restore the lower rates--54–60 percent--until the end of 2001.

Repression by the Turkish government has provoked a hunger strike by 250 political prisoners who belong to banned leftist groups. They began fasting in November to protest plans by the state to transfer them from communal wards to maximum security prisons. The prisoners are also demanding a halt to beatings by guards. In December, prisoners resisting transfer were stormed by soldiers, and succeeded in resisting for four days. Two soldiers and 30 inmates died in the fighting.

To date, 13 workers have died from starvation in the protest. On April 12, hundreds of people gathered in a workers district in Istanbul to bury Nergiz Gulmez, a woman hunger striker.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home