Police in Turkey attack members of Confederation of Public Workers' Union during a sit-in

19 members of Turkey’s Confederation of Public Workers’ Union (KESK) have been taken into custody while holding a sit-in to demand justice for public employees who were dismissed unlawfully through decrees passed under state emergency.

Groups of KESK members have been holding their demonstration in Ankara and İstanbul on every Saturday since the massive crackdown of Turkey’s government in response to the failed coup attempt of last summer has left hundreds of thousands of people unemployed or suspended from work.

Also expressing their opposition to the proposed new constitution, which will be voted on in a referendum next Sunday, the union members had gathered in city squares in Ankara and İstanbul to repeat their demands.

In both cities, police attacked the demonstrators with pepper gas and took into custody 19 people, among whom are also executive members of the Confederation.

In a written statement, the Confederation’s executive board condemned the oppression and violations of rights by government officials and demanded their colleagues to be released immediately.

Parts of the statement read as: “With this referendum process which resembles the times of the 12 September 1980 coup and where only one side’s propaganda is allowed while the opposition’s view is tried to be suppressed by the state, AKP has already lost!

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Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/kesk-e-uyelerine-polis-saldirisi-19-gozalti-154550.html