70 Workers Killed on the Job in February
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Leaders of Turkey's largest business group detained after sharp criticism of government
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Detention extended for journalists after mass raids
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İstanbul mayor İmamoğlu announces candidacy in CHP’s presidential primary
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Teenager labeled ‘terrorist’ by Interior Ministry acquitted in court
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Ostrich given as gift escapes, finds way back home in Diyarbakır
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Union leader arrested amid Antep labor protests
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Head of the United Textile, Leather, and Shoe Workers’ Union (BİRTEK-SEN), was arrested on Feb 17 in the southeastern city of Antep.
Mehmet Türkmen was detained a day earlier while meeting with workers at the union’s headquarters, marking his second detention in two weeks amid textile workers' protest for better wages.
According to a statement from the union, prosecutors launched an investigation into Türkmen over his social media posts related to the protests. He was questioned by police on charges of "violating the freedom to work and labor" and "inciting the commission of a crime."
Türkmen was brought to court early today. While he was initially expected to testify before the prosecutor, he was instead referred directly to the court with a request for his arrest.
Lawyers from the Gaziantep Bar Association, including its president, Bülent Duran, attempted to observe the hearing but were not allowed inside the courtroom.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Duran criticized the legal process, saying, “The outcome here is clear. This is an order, a directive. A ruling for arrest will come out of this."
He emphasized that protecting rights and freedoms, including the right to unionize, is a legal duty. “Law is singular. The law does not change based on individuals or authorities,” he added.
Following the ruling, lawyers from the bar association and workers from the Başpınar industrial zone separately held a public statement outside the courthouse to protest the arrest. BİRTEK-SEN also called for a demonstration in front of its headquarters at 5.00 pm.
Labor protests in Antep
The arrest comes amid growing labor protests in Gaziantep. Workers in factories across the Başpınar industrial zone have been on strike since Feb 6, rejecting a 30% wage increase offered by employers, which was significantly lower than the annual inflation rate of 44.38%.
In response to the protests, the Governor’s Office imposed a 15-day ban on all demonstrations and public gatherings in the city.
On Friday night, police, gendarmerie, and riot control officers dismantled protest tents set up by workers, clearing the areas where they had been demonstrating. (HA/VK)
Leaders of Turkey's largest business group detained after sharp criticism of government
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Detention extended for journalists after mass raids
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İstanbul mayor İmamoğlu announces candidacy in CHP’s presidential primary
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Teenager labeled ‘terrorist’ by Interior Ministry acquitted in court
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Ostrich given as gift escapes, finds way back home in Diyarbakır
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Thousands of KFC, Pizza Hut workers in Turkey unpaid amid debt restructuring
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İş Holding, which operates the KFC and Pizza Hut franchises in Turkey, has applied for debt restructuring due to liabilities of 7.7 billion liras (~213 million US dollars).
The court granted a three-month temporary respite to İş Gıda and its owner İlkem Şahin. On Jan 31, it appointed a temporary bankruptcy administrator for the company.
About 6,000 workers in 450 restaurants have not been paid their receivables. Employees protested in İstanbul, Bursa and Ankara on Feb 6 and in İzmir on Feb 8 for their salaries, severance and notice pay, leave pay, overtime receivables and other rights.
Workers stated that the concordat prevented them from leaving their jobs. They called for an investigation into the tangible and intangible assets of other companies within the holding, claiming that they were victimized by Şahin's “greed for profit.”
‘Laws protect bosses’
Labor Lawyer Sevgi Evren told bianet that even if a company applies for debt restructuring, it has an obligation to pay workers their rights. “It is not a legal situation for a company that says 'I am withdrawing from the market, I will no longer produce' not to pay the workers' compensation,” she said.
Labeling İş Holding's application as “a step towards getting rid of the burden of bankruptcy,” Evren added that the legal framework disadvantaged workers. “The concordat process is a legal arrangement that protects employers. Therefore, workers suffer the most in these processes. The concordat officer is supposed to protect workers, but there is no mechanism to supervise and regulate this.
“The court will decide whether the employer will go bankrupt or not. Even in the case of bankruptcy, the law says that the worker is the first creditor. However, this is not the case in practice. The workers comes only after public receivables. Therefore, workers need to unite and legitimately pressure the authorities and demand their rights because the legal system is not geared towards protecting workers.”
Explaining that regulations such as the guarantee fund and work exit can also be used when certain conditions are met, Evren said, “The guarantee fund is an application that can be activated if company salaries cannot be paid within three months. If the concordat officers do not pay the salaries, the workers must apply to the guarantee fund by reporting this at the end of three months.”
Evren further said that if the workers are not dismissed, they will not be able to work elsewhere and added, “Workers can resign, but this creates a separate legal process in order to receive their receivables. It would be much more correct to unite and demand their receivables as a union.”
About İş Holding
Hüseyin Şahin founded the company in 1950. It was initially in the home textile sector. Şahin's son İlkem Şahin turned the company into İş Holding in 2014. İlkem Şahin is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors.
The holding has companies in the food, logistics, agriculture, industry, energy, textiles, construction and real estate, IT, foreign trade, media and art sectors. It also sells franchises of brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme.
In 2020, Şahin bought the Turkish franchises of KFC and Pizza Hut from Yum Brands in the US. Yum Brands awarded İlkem Şahin the franchisee of the year award in 2023. On Feb 12, 2024, he was named the most successful man of the year by GQ Magazine.
In the same year, many of his companies in Germany went bankrupt. At the beginning of this year, Yum Brands terminated its franchise rights. Şahin applied for debt restructuring for KFC and Pizza Hut.
(AV/HA/VK)
Leaders of Turkey's largest business group detained after sharp criticism of government
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Detention extended for journalists after mass raids
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İstanbul mayor İmamoğlu announces candidacy in CHP’s presidential primary
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Teenager labeled ‘terrorist’ by Interior Ministry acquitted in court
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Ostrich given as gift escapes, finds way back home in Diyarbakır
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