The Monster of Soma Rears Its Head
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- Published on Saturday, 31 January 2015 20:22
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1075 .... February 1, 2015
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The Monster of Soma Rears Its Head
Sungur Savran
The AKP government in Turkey and, in particular, its undisputed leader, Tayyip Erdogan, president of the republic since last August, are usually remembered by the international public for their brazen violation of political and civil rights, their brutality in dealing with the Gezi revolt of June-September 2013, their unabashed support for the sectarian war waged against the Syrian regime by the various offshoots of the Al Qaeda movement and their growing tendency to impose Islamic rules on public life in Turkey, safely the most secular country in the Muslim world. Little is known about the indisputable class nature of this government: how, basing itself solidly on the reactionary labour legislation established by the military junta of... the early 1980s, it has attacked the working-class on all fronts in its rule of a dozen years.
This government has now once again exposed itself as a government ruling unswervingly on behalf of the bourgeoisie. It has banned the metalworkers’ strike led by the union Birlesik Metal involving 42 enterprises and up to 15,000 workers in 10 cities. The legal cover the Council of Ministers has had recourse to is a provision first promulgated by the military junta of the early 1980s stipulating the possibility of "postponement" of strikes for 60 days. There are two different reasons that the law cites as a basis for such a decision, public health or national security. The excuse used this time is "national security"! Of course, since the nation is the community of capitalists, its security vis-a-vis the working-class is considered "national security"! Although the legal measure is cast as "postponement," for all purposes this practically means nothing else but a ban, since at the end of the 60 days, the union cannot go back on strike but can only apply to the High Board of Arbitration!
