Members of the KESK trade union confederation of public employees want to go to Turkey's capital Ankara to demand the right to collective bargaining and protest against the recent police operation against trade union members, which has ended in the arrest of 14 trade unionists and the trial of 14 more without detention.
On Wednesday (3 June), they gathered in Galatasaray, central Istanbul, first. However, the police prevented them from marching to Taksim Square. They also took Murat Durmuş, branch leader of the educational Eğitim-Sen trade union into custody.
The trade unionists then began a sit-down protest in Galatasaray. Among the protesters was Zübeyde Kılıç, president of Eğitim-Sen, which belongs to the KESK confederation.
Kılıç told bianet, "Our demands are democratic. We will march whatever it takes."
The police obstructed the traffic, while trade unionists called on more members to come to Galatasaray with mobile phone messages.
The protest was supported by the Socialist Platform for the Oppressed (ESP), the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (DSİP), the Marxist Perspective magazine, the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Labour Movement Party (EHP) and LambdaIstanbul.
Members of Eğitim-Sen are converging on Ankara from Izmir, Diyarbakır and Trabzon. On 5 June, a protest is planned. (BÇ/EÜ/AG)
* For pictures of the Galatasaray protest click here.
