Factory Worker Ziya Baki, 30, died in Taksim

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It did not take long after its foundation for the Confederation of Mineworkers' Unions of Turkey to become a well-organised body. In 1969 there were 34 unions and seventy thousand workers connected to the confederation. According to Ministry of Labour records, by 1977 the number of workers belonging to the confederation had reached over one hundred thousand.

Ziya Baki was one of those hundred thousand members. He worked in the Uzel factory, doing tractor assembly.

Born in 1947, he was a labourer from Bafra, Samsun.

He was 30 years old when he lost his life in Taksim.

According to the autopsy report, the cause of his death was mechanical asphyxia as a result of blunt trauma to the chest and head, and rib fractures.

Murat Tokmak:

Murat Tokmak, president of the Turkish Mineworkers' Union and general secretary of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), whom we lost in 2011, spoke about the death of the three Uzel workers in a 2007 interview with Radikal.

"Once the tank sirens went off, chaos ensued, with people yelling and screaming and running all over the place. I was on the ground when I saw Uzel workers Hasan Yıldırım, Kahraman Alsancak, Ziya Baki, and Hüseyin Turan who were taking care of security at the rear of our contingent.

"I told them to get down. One of them was still standing. When I saw him get shot and fall to the ground, I stretched my leg out to pull him aside. That's when I was shot a second time, which really slowed me down.

"I was trying to pull myself together when I felt the hand around my ankle let go. I understood then that he was dead. He'd already been shot a couple of times.

"As I was crawling forward, I saw that Kahraman Alsancak and Ziya Baki were dead too. I'd thought they were on the ground trying to shield themselves, but it turns out they were dead too."

We listen to Ziya Baki's story as told by friends from the union, Ali Kılıç and Rıza Durak.

Mehmet Ali Kılıç, friend:

I was born in Urfa, in 1945. I worked on cotton fields in Adana from a young age. In 1968, I came to Istanbul to work and shortly afterwards I became a member of the Mineworkers' Union of Turkey, which was connected to DİSK. The Uzel factory was my first and last workplace.

In 1974-1975 I became the worker representative at Uzel. I was Honorary Board Chair of the Mineworkers' Union First District and Head Office Honorary Board member.

On 1 May 1977, three friends from our committee were killed. All three were Uzel workers. Hasan, Ziya, and Kahraman. Hasan and Ziya were unit representatives, Kahraman was a union militant.

Ziya, lived in Bayrampaşa.

They fell beside us

I was on duty at the 1977 rally for the Mineworkers' Union [Maden-İş]. Ziya Baki, Hasan Yıldırım and Kahraman Alsancak were right next to us. They fell beside us. In fact, one of them had his arm in mine.

Ziya was a hard worker. He was at every demonstration, and he also held an important position in the union.

He was a little strong headed; he had the rebellious quality of those from the Black Sea region.

Let me put it this way, if there was anything he didn't agree with, he would argue with us, to try and convince us. We'd try to explain, but even if we were right, he'd carry on and do what he thought best.

He was fearless

Because that was his truth. Even if it was wrong, he would defend his opinion to the last. Remembering this now, it brings a smile to my face.

Of course, he was short-tempered when it came to political issues. He would storm off, and then afterwards he would come back to check on us, to see if we were mad at him. He was sincere like that.

Ziya was determined. He was fearless. He would be on the frontlines at every protest, and whatever needed to be done, he'd be the first to volunteer.

43 years later

After 1 May 1977, I went to visit his family. They were extremely pleased to see me, in fact, I stayed the night. But then I had to move abroad because of my own political activities. That's when I lost touch with his family.

Even if it's taken 43 years, I am proud that he is being commemorated outside the union.

I honour and respect the memory of my friends Ziya Baki, Kahraman Alsancak, and Hasan Yıldırım, and all those massacred in Taksim that day.

Rıza Durak, friend:

Ziya and I worked in the same factory and belonged to the same union. He worked in tractor assembly at the Uzel factory. He was newly married, but I don't remember if he had any children.

Ziya was shot dead, just like Hasan Yıldırım.

In the process of collecting his body, we had a problem with his family. That's why we couldn't go to his funeral.

In their profound grief, Ziya Baki's family blamed us—which of course I consider a perfectly normal reaction to have. "You're the ones who took our brother to the square that day," that's what they said to us. One of Ziya's brothers was a police officer, and it was particularly hard getting him to calm down. But like I said, we weren't able to attend his burial.

His family didn't want any of us there. They took him to Samsun, to Ziya's hometown.

I didn't know Ziya well, but I knew he was a hardworking labourer. I've never heard anyone speak ill of him. (TY/APA/VK)

[1] https://sendika64.org/2007/05/30-yil-sonra-kanli-1-mayis-5-ertugrul-maviogluruhi-sanyerradikal-13496/

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