Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan said, "We now know that no struggle for rights can be carried out outside of democracy. No union struggle can be positioned against the national will. No civil society understanding can side with those who point guns at the government elected by the nation."
Minister Işıkhan attended the panel titled "Workers' Struggle Against the July 15 Treacherous Coup Attempt" held at the General Directorate of Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR). Ghana Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, TÜRK-İŞ Chairman Ergün Atalay, HAK-İŞ Chairman Mahmut Arslan, MEMUR-SEN Chairman Ali Yalçın and Turkey KAMU-SEN Chairman Önder Kahveci also took part in the panel.
Minister Işıkhan emphasized that the independence of the Republic of Turkey, national will and state tradition were targeted on the night of July 15, 2016, and said, "However, there was a fact that the traitors could not calculate. That is, the courage inherent in the blood of this beloved nation has resurfaced. The treacherous coup attempt failed, thanks to the determined leadership of our esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the epic resistance of our beloved nation. The epic written that night belongs only to Türkiye." "It has gone down in history as one of the most important public resistances in the history of democracy. Turkey is one of the countries that suffered the most from coups in the history of democracy. When the past coups are examined, we regretfully see that in some periods, some structures, some unions and various professional organizations supported the coups openly or covertly, tried to legitimize the coup plotters' discourses, and even contributed to the coup processes finding a social basis. This understanding, which preferred tutelage over the will of the nation, delayed the strengthening of our democracy."
'THE LABOR WORLD HAS MEET IN A COMMON CONSCIENCE'
Stating that today there is a Turkey with a much stronger awareness of democracy and understanding of civil society, Minister Işıkhan said, "The night of July 15 was the clearest indicator of this. Regardless of their political views, worldviews and union preferences, the majority of the labor world of our country has come together in a common conscience, in democracy, in national will. We now know that no struggle for rights can be carried out outside of democracy. No union struggle can be positioned against the national will. No understanding of civil society can side with those who point guns at the government elected by the nation. "That's why July 15 is a historical turning point that shows that the relationship between civil society and the union movement and democracy in Türkiye has matured."
'EVERY COUP TARGETS PRODUCTION AND EMPLOYMENT AT THE SAME TIME'
Stating that coups undermine not only administrations but also business life, Işıkhan said, "Every coup also targets production and employment. It targets investment, peace of activity and social peace. For this reason, the strengthening of business life and the strengthening of democracy cannot be considered separately. In a place where the rule of law, national will and democratic order do not prevail, neither investment security nor production security nor peace of activity can be achieved. For this very reason, as the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, we aim to strengthen social dialogue, peace of activity, union rights and social justice." "We see it as one of the important foundations of our democracy," he said.