Declaration by the Communist Party of Turkey on the Massacre of Soma

The Communist Party of Turkey respectfully salutes the brother workers who have lost their lives at the mine in Soma. We solemnly express our condolences to our people and proletarian humanity.

We embrace the workers who went on strike in their workplaces, the students who boycotted their schools, and the people who organized sit in demonstrations, who were at their windows protesting with their pots and pans, who marched, who filled the areas, who were exposed to state terror, for the miners, with a feeling of solidarity.

We are proud of the great humanity of those who do not submit;  we are proud of being a part of the great humanity. We face a situation in which death is not the destiny. Hundreds of miners are massacred due to the profit-hunger of the wild capitalism. The AKP government has not only prepared and guarded the conditions of this massacre but it was also behind all the efforts to draw a veil over it once it happened. In the conscience and minds of the people, it is crystal clear who the criminals are.

Those who should be ashamed of these blindingly obvious crimes, those who should have cleared the way for what needed to be done, did not hesitate to counter attack while the whole country is still in mourning.

They lied to the people. Even the principal right of the families of the miners, their right to know the fate of their relatives has been violated. The right to receive information is blocked. Undocumented workers are employed at the mine. The security measures are not taken. It is obvious that the controls are completely fake…

This is an organized crime. The most extreme but also the most obvious criminal in the picture is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who actually punched a relative of a worker, and got tens, probably hundreds, beaten up by its bodyguards.

At the current stage of the events which occurred in front of the whole world, the Communist Party of Turkey considers necessary to issue the declaration below:

1. The death-toll of our worker brothers should be released immediately. It is understood that the government is attempting to keep a good portion of our people buried in the mines and thus try to hide the real number of dead. This infamy is unacceptable.

2. The position of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is completely illegitimate. It is the most natural right of the people to protest and to demand an explanation in a town where hundreds are buried under the ground. We reject the extemporization of the people of Soma. We are disgusted by Erdoğan beating a citizen. The Prime Minister should resign immediately and should be put on trial.

3. It is clear that the Minister of Health, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Minister of Labor and Social Security have not been able to fulfill their duties, have closed their eyes to a business operation that does not value human life and that violated all work procedures defined by law and regulations. These ministers who have already been found guilty by the people’s conscience should resign and be brought to justice.

4. The owner and the management of the company running the mine which has been turned into a mass grave should be arrested on charges of premeditated murder and brought to justice.

5. Having sent hundreds to death without any hesitation, having treated its own people with animosity, the government and the person leading it is no more legitimate. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) from where the government gets its reason of existence should end this farce. We call on all the members of the parliament to fulfill their responsibilities towards the people and conscience. For the people, the country and humanity, it is the duty of all members of the parliament to take this government down which does not give any signals of resigning on its own. It is clear that the shortest way to achieve this is for all deputies to leave their posts in the parliament.

6. The idea that the legitimacy of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey should not be damaged or that the dissolution of it will create a chaos is invalid. AKP government as well as its base is illegitimate. The temporary dissolution of the parliament is much less of a problem than the AKP government staying in power to continue to commit crimes against its people. Let no one worry, our people is capable of finding a solution to the first problem.

7. The system of subcontracting should be abolished.

8. Coal mines should be nationalized immediately and the inspection of the mines should be performed by the workers and scientists.

9. The Communist Party of Turkey will do all it can on legal, medical and humanitarian grounds in order to bring the guilty parties to justice, to stand in solidarity with Soma and to help ease the pain of the massacre.

The Communist Party of Turkey calls on our people who are in a great mourning to come together and organize in order to popularize and to fulfill these demands.

We will never forget the murdered workers. Starting with their families, we once more extend our condolences to all of Turkey.

The Communist Party of Turkey
Central Office
May 19, 2014