Solidarity from Syntagma to Taksim!
[ 7th June 2013. Beursplein, Amsterdam ]
Solidarity with protesters in Turkey
For many days, Turkish people have been taking to the streets to fight for their future. For many years, they have been facing the brutal repression of undemocratic regimes. The Turkish people paid the price of the economic crisis in the beginning of the previous decade and the ‘recovery’ that followed. The well-known recipe of IMF was also imposed on Turkey bringing privatizations, massive lay-offs, abolition of workers’ rights, union-busting and increased everyday repression at workplaces. Lately, the so-called ‘urban transformation’ policies of the government lead to distraction of free spaces and growing problems in urban areas.
Contrary to what the governments of both countries are trying to convince us, Greeks and Turks share many social and historical traits. The latest events bear evidence also to the fact that we share the suffering by similar policies driven by the effort of the political and economic elites to deprive people from their basic rights. Greek people suffer by the social and economic war that is waged against them by the government and the Troika (EU, IMF, ECB). They also suffer by repression as strikes and demonstrations are practically prohibited and any protest faces violent attacks by the police and their neo-Nazi friends of the extreme right party Golden Dawn. Same as in Greece, Turkish people and Turkish government are two separate worlds and light years apart from each other.
The only thing we can do at this moment is to take wholeheartedly the side of the Turkish people in their struggle for their basic rights. We, Greek and Turkish people are not enemies. We stand on the same side fighting against governments and supranational institutions that do not represent us and policies that undermine our present and our future. We share the same problems, we share the same vision and the same targets.
Therefore, your struggle is our struggle!
We support you and we fight at the same side as you!
| The most beautiful sea: | En güzel deniz: |
| hasn’t been crossed yet. | Henüz gidilmemiş olanıdır. |
| The most beautiful child: | En güzel çocuk: |
| hasn’t grown up yet. | Henüz büyümedi. |
| Our most beautiful days: | En güzel günlerimiz: |
| we haven’t seen yet. | Henüz yaşamadıklarımız. |
| And the most beautiful words I wanted to tell you | Ve sana söylemek istediğim en güzel söz: |
| I haven’t said yet… | Henüz söylememiş olduğum sözdür… |
Nazim Hikmet, September 24th 1945
Political group of Greeks living in the Netherlands
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