Tanks stand by outside Ankara in September 1980 after the military coup. 1 am in Balikespir prison now ... my legs, my hands, my eyes are all black and swollen as a result of torture. The same things were done to the women. Death Is better. My only crime is to be a member of DISK (Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions.) Suleyman Kirteke, trade union official arrested in January 1981. By LINCOLN SMITH “‘Why haven’t we heard anything from the North American trade union centers?’’ Kemal Daysal asked incredulously. ‘‘We hear these unions are talking a lot about Poland, but why have they remained silent on our problem in Turkey?” Daysal had good reason for his question, and I had little I could tell the intense young executive board member of the outlawed DISK trade union. Daysal was representing the Turkish trade union center at the February 10-15 World Federation of Trade Unions Congress (WFTU) in the Cuban capital of Havana. The only member of the DISK executive board to escape arrest, Daysal had come to this meeting of 351 trade union organizations from 150 nations, representing over 260 million organized workers, to plead for his people. Before the military coup on September 12, 1980 DISK was the second largest trade union center in Turkey with 600,000 members. Now 52 leaders of that union are on trial for their lives and repression has swept the country. Officially there have been 100,000 arrested in Turkey, but Daysal said, ‘“The real fact is there were 200,000 arrested and there’re now 80-90,000 in prison.’’ Democracy has been smashed in Turkey. Since the 1980 military takeover DISK has been banned, the 2.5- million member Central Association of Peasant Co- operatives (KOY-KOOP) has been banned, the 200,000 member Teacher Union (TOB-DER) banned, more than 100 newspapers banned, the former president, Bulent Ecevit imprisoned, and every political party left of social democrats banned. The mayors of all cities have been replaced by military men. The human toll is impossible to measure. According to DISK, ‘Inhuman and disgusting tortures were exercised and are being exercised widely. Hundreds of people died during the tortures or became crippled’’ (According to investigations by the WFTU the number of deaths is 5,000). Besides the kangaroo courts trying DISK leaders, there are 800 members of the leftist organization De- vrimci Yol in prisun and being charged — 130 of whom face death sentences. In 1980 there was a massive strike in Turkey, with 60,000 members of the DISK confederation struggling for better wages from the metal, textile, and glass in- dustries. The strike had been going on for two months when the tanks rolled into Istanbul September 12. One economist described the strike as “‘possibly the _ most widespread industrial action in Turkish history. May Day, 1980, thousands of trade unionists took part in a militant march — a dramatic film of which was shown journalists at the WFTU Congress. Observers say that while the upsurge of militant trade unionism may not have been the direct cause of the coup, it ‘‘certainly influenced its timing.” Militant trade unionism had forced some employers to give 350-500% wage increases, keeping wages up with soaring inflation. Following the coup the situation has drastically de- teriorated. All strikes are banned. Collective bargaining has been abolished. Armed guards are stationed inside factories. Workers are prohibited from talking with one another about trade unions or democracy on threat of dismissal, \ blacklisting and possible jailing. The TURK-IS (a pro-U.S. trade union federation) has been maintained to keep up the front of trade unions, but has no power. Wages, since the coup, have been held down to 35%, vacations have been cut, and inflation continues to soar. This situation created by the military junta is what Business Week described on September 14, 1981 as “‘a 180%. turn.in.favor-of foreign investment.” With 20% unemployment, the families of those thousands imprisoned have become destitute. Along with the 52 DISK leaders on trial, another 2,500 mem- bers could suffer the same fate. Under what law are these military trials being held? The charges stem from a vague law copied from Italian statutes written under Mussolini, charging such crimes as “‘working for domination of one social class over the other social class,’’ ‘‘to eradicate or weaken the national spirit,’ or simply, ‘‘creating unrest.’ These charges could hold the death penalty. An investigation team led by the International Con- federation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), of which the AFL-CIO is a member, found that members of a DISK choir were found guilty of “communist propaganda’’ for singing the international at a DISK convention. A road workers union in Ankara, an affiliate of the conservative TURK-IS, was dissolved by the junta be- cause its constitution used the phrase ‘‘workers’ class science.”’ ; The 200,000-member TOB-DER (Association of All Teachers for Union and Solidarity), which was fighting for collective bargaining rights for educators, democratic rights, and was outspoken in the struggle against the rising tide of fascism in Turkey — is no longer. During the reign of rightwing terror before the junta took power over 300 members and officers of the TOB- DER were murdered. Now thousands of teachers are among those impris- oned and tortured. Fifty leaders of the association were sentenced to nine years in prison on December 25, 1981. Some 60% of the political prisoners in Turkey are student youth. The entire educational system in Turkey has now been put in the hands of the military. And still no word from the CLC or AFL-CIO. But despite the media blackout here, the European trade union movement has become outraged over the actions of their NATO ally. Economic and political sanctions against the Turkish junta have been imposed by practically every NATO member, except the U.S. Actions against the Turkish regime were forced on the European governments by the major trade union centers. Why the media blackout here? Why the silence from our trade union centres? It would appear that the leaders of the trade union federations are unable to remove their anti-communist, anti-Soviet blinders, and yet what has happened in Turkey will have a direct effect on our workers. With a smashed trade union movement and 20% un- employed the junta has advertised in the New York Times — aimed at the multinational corporations — “a large labor force consisting of skilled, industrial and relatively low-cost workers.’’ More runaways, more un- employment here. — Daily World May Day, 1980, Ankara, Turkey PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 7, 1982—Page 7