The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has launched a fresh appeal for union members to protest over continuing charges against trade unionists in Turkey.
Representatives of ITF sister global and European federations, including the ITUC and the EPSU, the European arm of Public Services International, attended the court hearing in Ankara on 10 April. At the hearing, 72 members and leaders of ITF and ITUC affiliate KESK, a public sector union, were released but the charges were not dropped. Twenty two of the 72, including two officials of ITF affiliate BTS, had spent nearly 10 months in pre-trial detention.
As a result of the charges remaining, the ITUC is urging more union members to sign and circulate the Labour Start campaign letter to the Turkish prime minister.
ITF acting general secretary Stephen Cotton commented: “These charges are without evidence or legal backing and we must keep up the pressure on the Turkish authorities to end this injustice immediately. We therefore urge all our affiliates who have not already taken the Labour Start action to heed the ITUC’s call and lend their voices to the campaign for justice.”
The Labour Start Turkey campaign can be viewed here.(http://www.labourstartcampaigns.net/show_campaign.cgi?c=1742)
