Ugur Yaman is still in hospital but his situation is not critical and doctors say he might be sent home soon. He said that 14 of the more than 100 people killed at the start of a peace demonstration were BTS officials and activists, including a nine-year-old boy and his father, and that a further 19 BTS members were injured.
In a joint message with general secretary Ishak Kocabryik ahead of Turkey’s elections on 1 November, Yaman offered condolences to the bereaved families and wrote: “Our demonstration for peace democracy and labour…was attacked before it started. The organising committee obtained all necessary permission for the demonstration…therefore, the security and safety of demonstration are under the responsibility of the state.
“The political authority aims to maintain majority power and is ready to do everything, even beyond Machiavellism, in this regard. This bombing shows that the political authority does not aim to investigate the attack, find out those who are responsible, but to play with time and mislead the direction of any investigation. Blocking ambulances, which were coming to save the lives of people, and using tear gas are the clearest examples of this policy.”
In a message read out at the funeral of the BTS victims - see http://goo.gl/riyvFz - on 12 October, ITF general secretary Steve Cotton commented that the attacks targeted what was best about Turkey, and some of its most idealistic and motivated people. He said the global union movement called for a full and transparent investigation in order to bring the perpetrators to justice and offered heartfelt solidarity to the bereaved and injured.
At the invite of Turkish community organisation Daymer, the ITF participated in a joint union/community event at Congress House in London on 12 October to protest at the Ankara bombings and demonstrate that progressive voices would not be silenced by violence.
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