{"id":13398,"date":"2017-09-13T14:23:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T13:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13398"},"modified":"2017-09-13T14:23:54","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T13:23:54","slug":"must-not-lose-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13398","title":{"rendered":"‘Must not lose sight’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Tommy Murphy, Unite delegate, today (September 12) addressed conference on Motion 75 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c solidarity with all progressive forces and the Kurdish population of Turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bColleagues, last year we passed an emergency motion condemning in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Turkish government and expressing our solidarity with the Kurdish population and all progressive forces in Turkey,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sadly since last year the situation in the country has dramatically deteriorated \u00e2\u20ac\u201c further waves of mass arrests, detentions and dismals of workers have taken place, more media outlets have been closed down, and the brutal war on the Kurdish population has continued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it is exaggerated to say that we are witnessing Turkey, a NATO member state, descending into fascism,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat is happening is utterly outrageous and must be stopped, and that is why this motion calls for us to redouble our efforts to build solidarity with the Kurds and all progressive forces in Turkey and the wider region,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tommy went on to say that as a trade union movement we demand that the Turkish state immediately end the state of emergency, restore democratic and press freedoms and restart the peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party the PKK.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe demand that they immediately release all political prisoners\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, including all those HDP members of parliament and local politicians who have jailed for being part of the opposition,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost crucially we must demand that they release the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ocalan and the PKK have shown themselves to be willing and serious partners in the peace process and Ocalan and they have made it clear that solutions can be found within the existing borders of Turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is clear that those solutions will only be possible if basic human and democratic rights are guaranteed for everyone regardless of their ethnic background and religion,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut colleagues, standing here and making demands and passing motions is not enough. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely vital that we do what we have done many times before, that we draw on the great traditions of our movement and build the real solidarity that is so vitally needed,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Murphy urged all TUC affiliates to redouble their efforts and make members and activists aware of what is going on. To build a mass solidarity movement, just as unions have done with Cuba, South Africa, Colombia, Palestine and many others in the past.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What happens in Turkey and the wider region will have huge implications for everyone in Europe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why as a first step this motion calls on all the TUC to organise a solidarity delegation to Turkey as soon as possible and insists that such a delegation must also visit the Kurdish areas,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s critical that we not only see first-hand what is going on and make clear the opposition of the British labour movement to it, but also that we demonstrate to our Kurdish brothers and sisters that they are not alone and that we will not allow them to be isolated and cut off,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motion also called on all affiliates to affiliate and fully support the work of the Peace in Kurdistan and Freedom for Ocalan campaigns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In less than two years Abdullah Ocalan will have been in prison for 20 years and will be 70 years old.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He was taken illegally and has been held in inhumane conditions that contradict basic human rights standards but this goes unnoticed and unaddressed in the West.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crucial that we build awareness and build massive international pressure for his release \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because only with Ocalan at the table as a recognised leader of the Kurdish people will there be a proper and lasting peace in the country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also vital to understand that Erdogan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsession with war on the Kurds doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop at the borders of Turkey \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in Syria, where the Kurds have played and internationally recognised and heroic role in fighting and driving back ISIS they have built real inclusive democratic structures, and where they offer possibly the only real hope for peace, democracy and inclusivity for the region\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future, Turkey has send it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s army in \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not to fight ISIS, but to fight the Kurds,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Murphy stated that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an utter disgrace that a NATO member state is doing this and that is why we must maximise pressure on our government and all international bodies to demand they stop these barbaric actions and withdraw their army from Turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bColleagues, we know there are many demands on us with Brexit and the wider challenges we face, but we mustn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lose sight of the need to maintain and build our wider international solidarity efforts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Murphy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSupport motion 75 and help build international solidarity with the Kurds and all progressive forces \u00e2\u20ac\u201c down with Turkish fascism and freedom for Ocalan,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motion was passed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tommy Murphy, Unite delegate, today (September 12) addressed conference on Motion 75 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c solidarity with all progressive forces and the Kurdish population of Turkey.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bColleagues, last year we passed an emergency motion condemning in the strongest possible terms the actions of the Turkish government and expressing our solidarity with the Kurdish population and all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[158,797,792],"wps_subtitle":"Fight for peace in Kurdistan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13403,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13398\/revisions\/13403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}