Police Attack, Detain Education Union Members Protesting Dismissals

Click to read the article in Kurdish / Turkish

Gathering to make a press statement in protest of the dismissal and suspension of education workers, members of the Education and Science Laborers Union (Eğitim Sen) have faced a police attack and detention in Muş province.

The Ministry of National Education (MEB) had announced on September 8 that 11,285 personnel have been suspended. While the Confederation of Public Workers’ Union (KESK) and Eğitim Sen staged protests in front of the Governorship building in İstanbul, police attacks took place in protests in Diyarbakır and Muş.

Eğitim Sen announced that as many as 70 of its members in Diyarbakır and four in Muş were detained.

Claiming that the government “is using the State of Emergency as a shield to cover their own illegalities”, the union said “The goal is to forcibly subdue anyone opposing them. […] It must be known that our union will never give up using its democratic rights and will stand firmly against this unlawfulness”.

The union also demanded the immediate release of its members. (BK/TK)