Workers, union officials detained during protest at İstanbul Finance Center

Construction workers involved in the building of the İstanbul Finance Center, a complex housing the Central Bank among other facilities, staged a protest today to demand their overdue wages.

The protest aimed to address grievances against Emlak Konut and Limak Holding, companies involved in the Central Bank construction site, accused of infringing on workers' rights. However, the demonstration was cut short as police prevented the unions from reading out a statement and proceeded to detain union leaders and workers.

The demonstration was organized by Dev Yapı-İş and İnşaat-İş construction workers’ unions, both affiliated with the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK).

Özgür Karabulut, the head of Dev Yapı-İş, told bianet, "Detentions and pressures cannot intimidate us. We have claimed our rights before, and we will do so again."

Social media posts from the unions said, "We will never give up! Our union leaders and members were detained with torture before we could even start our press statement against Emlak Konut and Limak Holding, who are trying to usurp our member's rights at the İstanbul Finance Center, Central Bank construction site."

Among those detained were Emrah İraz, a member of Dev Yapı-İş demanding payment from the company, along with union officials including General Secretary Nihat Demir, Financial Secretary Osman Üney, and Yunus Özgür, the General Secretary of İnşaat-İş, as well as workers who came to support the protest. (VC/VK)