(ANKARA) - Private sector teachers and teachers who were victims of interviews came together in Ankara to express their demands once again. Teachers, who were not allowed to make a press statement in Parliament Park by the police, made their statements in front of the Miner's Monument. Teachers said, "Our demands are not a favor, but fundamental rights, and these rights must be legally guaranteed without delay."
Private sector teachers and the teachers who were the victims of the interview decided to end their 13-day hunger strike at the Private Sector Teachers' Union Ankara Branch due to the ban decisions taken by the Ankara Governorship within the scope of the 36th NATO Summit held on 7-8 July 2026.
The victim teachers, who came together in Ankara again after the prohibition decisions of the Ankara Governorship ended, gathered in front of the union building in Parliament Park to make a press statement, demanding the enactment of a base salary law and the appointment of interview victims. However, the teachers were not allowed to march to Parliament Park by the police.
After nearly three hours of talks between the teachers and the police, an agreement was reached to hold the press release in front of the Miner's Monument in Kızılay.
The teachers, who walked from the Ankara Branch of the Private Sector Teachers' Union to the Miner's Monument, continued their march with applause, chanting slogans such as "Teachers teach the lesson of struggle", "Teachers are marching, the struggle is growing", "You said interview, you denied our rights", "Hundreds of thousands of teachers are waiting for the base salary" and "Minister of bosses, Yusuf Tekin, resign".
The teachers were also supported by DEM Party Istanbul Deputy Kezban Konukcu, DEM Party Mersin Deputy Perihan Koca, EMEP Gaziantep Deputy Sevda Karaca, SOL Party MYK Member Sercan Dede and Motor Courier Workers Association President Seyhun Kavut.
DEM Party Mersin Deputy Perihan Koca said the following in her speech here:
"Since the very beginning, since we are also education workers and teachers who were dismissed by the Statutory Decree, we wanted to show solidarity with you, to be courageous and to shout these demands together with you, not only in the Parliament rostrum, but also in the streets. Because 1611 teachers who were victims of interviews and private sector teachers are shouting out the justified demands of teachers all over the country today, like a cry. However, this cry is responded to by playing the three monkeys. Against this silence and silence, we are defending the voice, words, words of our teacher friends. "We want to act with your permission, your strength, your courage and your unyielding resistance to bring your breath and actions to the Parliament. Today, we will start the activities in the commission with your rightful demands. We will turn it into an action area, an area where teachers are taught the lesson of struggle."
DEM Party Istanbul Deputy Kezban Konukçu also stated that they will continue their struggle in every field for the right to base salary, the appointment of teachers who are victims of interviews, and the provision of secure employment against precarious operating conditions. Konukçu stated that he would attend the National Education Commission meeting and said that he would bring the demands of the victim teachers and the problems they experienced to the agenda of the commission.
Teachers Union Central Executive Board (MYK) Member Umut Erkurt, who read the press release on behalf of teachers, said:
"Today, the National Education Commission will meet. However, we know that the demands of teachers will not be discussed in this commission, will not be put on the agenda and will be ignored. This situation is not a simple negligence or a technical deficiency. This situation is a political attitude taken against the demands of teachers. This attitude is a reflection of the will to organize education according to the needs of the market. This attitude is the continuation of the understanding that sees the teacher not as a subject of rights, but as an element that needs to be controlled. This attitude is a clear indicator of the approach that prefers to postpone and deepen rather than solve the problems that have accumulated over the years. We are "We do not accept this understanding because we know that education is one of the most fundamental public areas of a society and abandoning this area to the market means the loss of not only teachers but also the whole society. It is not possible to talk about a qualified education in a system where teachers are insecure, their labor is devalued and their right to speak is ignored."
Here we state clearly: Our demands are not a favor, but fundamental rights. and these rights must be legally guaranteed without delay. "Teachers' having humane working conditions, being able to continue their profession safely, and preserving the public nature of the education field are not topics that can be postponed."
Addressing the members of the National Education Commission, the Ministry of National Education and the government, Erkurt called for "Legal guarantee our right to base salary, and appoint the teachers who were victims of the interview, whose rights were taken away due to the unfair scoring of the unfair commissions."