İşçilerin Taksim Zaferine Rağmen Akıllarda Birtakım Sorular Var
-
Despite Taksim Victory, Questions Linger About May Day Violence in Turkey
04/16/2010 00:00:00
Despite Taksim victory, questions linger about May Day violence in Turkey
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Winning officialpermissionfor May Daycelebrationsin Istanbul's central Taksim Square may be a historicvictoryfor workers, but past experience suggests May 1 might bring much more action to the streets than expected.
Whileunionistspercievethe government's decision to allow people toassembleat Taksim for the day as positive, they also see a politicalmotivewith upcoming elections. If the government didn't allow celebrations to take place at Taksim, they say, then memories of violentclasheswould be nearly certain toeruptonce again.
"The move is positive, but the AKP's possible insistence to close it to workers would already put the AKP in worse situation. The repeated images of clashes between police and workers would occur and it wouldhugelydiscredit the AKP ahead of elections,' Bayram Meral, a former union chairman from the Republican People's Party, CHP, said.
Taksim was open for May Day celebrations in 1976, but Turkeybannedthem after celebrations in 1977 turned into a tragedy whenunidentifiedpeople opened fire on the crowd and at least 34 people were left dead.
The celebrations in 2007 and 2008 have becomeassociatedwith images of police usingexcessivepolice force and violence. Many say the government's declaration of May 1 as an official holiday last year was a positive step.
In a move todenouncethe workers' attempt to gather in Taksim in 2008, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "If the feet try to rule the head, they will bringdoomsday.'
İşçilerin Taksim Zaferine Rağmen Akıllarda Birtakım Sorular Var - Despite Taksim Victory, Questions Linger About May Day Violence in Turkey
Despite Taksim victory, questions linger about May Day violence in Turkey
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Winning officialpermissionfor May Daycelebrationsin Istanbul's central Taksim Square may be a historicvictoryfor workers, but past experience suggests May 1 might bring much more action to the streets than expected.
Whileunionistspercievethe government's decision to allow people toassembleat Taksim for the day as positive, they also see a politicalmotivewith upcoming elections. If the government didn't allow celebrations to take place at Taksim, they say, then memories of violentclasheswould be nearly certain toeruptonce again.
"The move is positive, but the AKP's possible insistence to close it to workers would already put the AKP in worse situation. The repeated images of clashes between police and workers would occur and it wouldhugelydiscredit the AKP ahead of elections,' Bayram Meral, a former union chairman from the Republican People's Party, CHP, said.
Taksim was open for May Day celebrations in 1976, but Turkeybannedthem after celebrations in 1977 turned into a tragedy whenunidentifiedpeople opened fire on the crowd and at least 34 people were left dead.
The celebrations in 2007 and 2008 have becomeassociatedwith images of police usingexcessivepolice force and violence. Many say the government's declaration of May 1 as an official holiday last year was a positive step.
In a move todenouncethe workers' attempt to gather in Taksim in 2008, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "If the feet try to rule the head, they will bringdoomsday.'
" http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=taksim-move-positive-but-political-say-unionists-2010-04-14 "Vocabulary Exercise