DİSK President Çerkezoğlu: 'Prohibitions announced for NATO Summit in Ankara are unacceptable'

Trade union members gathered in Istanbul to protest the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara, marching from Taksim Square to Dolmabahçe. Arzu Çerkezoğlu, the confederation's president, stated that the preparations and measures taken ahead of the summit reveal the ruling political power's attitude towards its own people and NATO's mindset.

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Today we set out from Taksim Square in Istanbul and are in Dolmabahçe, one of the symbols of the anti-imperialist struggle in Turkey, on these lands.

Çerkezoğlu criticized the restrictions on democratic rights, the suppression of public spaces, and the arrests of hundreds of people, including young individuals, academics, and environmental volunteers. She also noted that critical media outlets were prevented from covering the summit, and the right to assembly and demonstration was suspended.

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Everything done within the scope of the preparations and measures taken before the NATO summit even begins clearly shows the mentality of the political power governing our country and, in fact, NATO, and how they view the working people in their own country.

Regarding Ankara, Çerkezoğlu described the city as being prepared for the summit with a "blockade and makeover operation," leaving its residents feeling like "prisoners of the measures in their own country." She pointed to the rapid renovation of protocol routes and the transformation of certain city areas into showcases, with problems that have persisted for years being made invisible to foreign heads of state.

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Hundreds of people's homes were raided on the possibility of protesting the NATO Summit, dozens of people were arrested. Our youth, our academics, even environmental volunteers were arrested.

DİSK declared its opposition to NATO's war policies, emphasizing the heavy price paid by workers and peoples worldwide for conflicts and arms races. The confederation advocates for peace, democracy, and fraternity among peoples, calling for increased budgets for social protection systems and policies to reduce inequality, rather than rising defense spending.

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Ankarans have been made prisoners of the measures in their own country's capital.