The General President of BİRTEK-SEN, one of the leading unions fighting for the organisation and rights of textile workers in Turkey, has once again been taken into custody.
Türkmen was detained on the grounds of a speech he gave addressing workers. He had previously been detained many times before at the request of employers.
In Antep, the home of BİRTEK-SEN General President Mehmet Türkmen was raided by the gendarmerie, his electronic devices were confiscated, and he was taken into custody.
Workers of Sırma Halı, a company affiliated with Şireci, who have not received their increased wages for months, whose last month’s wages were not paid, and whose wages are regularly paid late each pay period, stopped work on 9 March and held a press statement in Balıklı Square on 13 March. After the workers spoke, the home of Mehmet Türkmen, General President of the United Textile, Weaving and Leather Workers Union (BİRTEK-SEN), was searched by the gendarmerie. Türkmen was detained on the charge of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility” due to the speech he made during the Sırma Halı workers’ protest. His electronic devices were confiscated.
UK trade unions are urged to take immediate action by writing to Turkish authorities in the United Kingdom to protest the detention of Mehmet Türkmen and to demand respect for trade union rights. Letters can be sent to the Turkish Consulate General in London, calling on the Turkish government to end the harassment of union leaders, drop the charges against Türkmen, and uphold international labour rights and freedoms of organisation. Trade unions should make clear that the treatment of BİRTEK-SEN and its members is being closely watched by the international labour movement, and that continued repression will damage Turkey’s reputation with workers and democratic organisations across the UK and Europe.