Kumlu said the fact was not fully understood by public opinion. Tekel employees who were laid off due to factory closures in the wake of the monopoly’s privatization started a protest on Dec. 15 in Ankara.
Speaking in Ankara, Kumlu said the Tekel workers did not protest the privatization process but were upset about the closing down of their factories. “The majority conflate these two different things. This confusion is the biggest problem we are facing. These people would not have begun to protest had the government not taken their jobs from them,” Kumlu opined. Also reacting against recent claims that the protests were politically motivated, Kumlu said, “People are seeking to regain their rights; the protests are not related to political concerns.”
On Monday, the 13th day of protests by laid off Tekel employees, workers gathered in Ankara’s Güvenpark before attempting to walk to Parliament. The protestors were soon stopped by the police. Addressing the crowd, Türk-İş President Kumlu called on the workers to be patient until a compromise is reached. Kumlu and presidents of Türk-İş’s subsidiary unions later met with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Oktay Vural in Parliament to convey their concerns.
Commenting on the latest developments, Vural accused the government of remaining indifferent to Tekel workers’ problems. Making mention of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest remarks on the issue, Vural said such accusations would not be accepted. Erdoğan said as early as last weekend that the government would not “dole out money for workers not producing anything when orphans have a right to that money.” The prime minister also recalled that the closing down of these factories was announced two years ago. Also responding to Erdoğan, Kumlu said they were sorry to hear the prime minister make such remarks and added that such an approach would do nothing but make the situation worse.
Kumlu said they spoke with the government in 10 days of talks to find ways to solve the problem. Seeing little chance of a solution, only then did they decide to hold protests. Kumlu is expected to visit the Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary group on Tuesday and the Türk-İş administrative board will decide on new steps with regards to the Tekel issue following a meeting on Wednesday. “We are determined to continue protests until we can sit down with the government and solve the problem.”
