First action of the TKP's 'We Do Not Kneel to the Government' call takes place: This people will not bow to you

The first of the 'We do not kneel to the government' protests took place simultaneously today at 20:00 in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Eskişehir, and Samsun.

Thousands of citizens responded to the calls for kneeling and bowing made by government supporters—who claim 'there is no old Turkey anymore'—by saying, 'We do not kneel to the government. We kneel before the heroes of the War of Independence.'

Citizens gathered at Istanbul Beşiktaş Pier Square, Ankara Ulus Square, Izmir Kıbrıs Şehitleri Street, Antalya Attalos Square, Eskişehir Ulus Monument Square, and in front of the İş Bankası in Samsun, chanting slogans such as 'This country, this people are not for sale', 'We will not bow to darkness', 'Down with the sultanate, long live the Republic', and 'This people will not kneel or bow to you'. TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan spoke in Istanbul, TKP Central Committee member Ali Ufuk Arikan in Ankara, and TKP Central Committee member Berkay Kemal Önoğlu in Izmir. Following the speeches, in protests where the poem 'They' from Nâzım Hikmet's 'Epic of the War of Independence' was read, citizens knelt in respect to the heroes of the War of Independence.

"THIS PEOPLE WILL NOT KNEEL OR BOW TO YOU"

The protest in Istanbul began with an opening speech by theater artist Orhan Aydın. Aydın concluded his speech by saying: "They cannot govern. They cannot govern anything. They only manage corruption, lies, plunder, and religious profiteering. We are standing and will remain standing against the AKP tyranny's invitation for the people of this country to kneel. We have not bowed or knelt to any tyranny, and we will not." Following the speech, the slogan 'This people will not kneel or bow to you' echoed in Beşiktaş Pier Square, accompanied by applause.

"35 PEOPLE ARE SEIZING THE COUNTRY'S WEALTH, THEN THEY COME AND TELL US TO KNEEL"

TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan also addressed the citizens gathered in Beşiktaş, Istanbul. Starting his speech by asking questions about the government's demand to kneel, Okuyan said, "What are they trying to make us kneel for? Are we to kneel to them because they have condemned our workers, laborers, and our people to poverty, hunger, and workplace murders? Are we to kneel because they have condemned our youth to a futureless existence, ignorance, and child labor? Are we to kneel because they have condemned our women to violence, harassment, and murder? Are we to kneel to them because they tell retirees, 'Die, we do not want to feed you'?"

Referring to the billionaire list published recently, TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan said, "When they invited our people, those who do not bow, to kneel, a list was released in the world. That list was the list of billionaires, the list of the world's richest people. There are 35 citizens of the Republic of Turkey on that list. My tongue does not even want to call them our fellow citizens.

They are the bloodsuckers of this country. Do you know that the wealth seized by these 35 people is 3 times the wealth of 40 million of our citizens in this country? And then they come and say 'kneel', is that so? We are not kneeling, we are not kneeling to you. This people has risen up against those who usurp the right to vote, against those who try to take away our right to vote and be elected. They attacked people with gas. They arrested our youth, the youth who say 'I am claiming this country'. They will arrest them, and we will kneel, is that it? We are not kneeling, we are not bowing."

"A PEOPLE WHO RISE UP MAY SUFFER DEFEATS FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT THEY NEVER APOLOGIZE, THEY NEVER KNEEL"

Okuyan continued his speech: "Kneeling exists in humanity. Some kneel while praying. It is people's faith, their relationship with the religion they believe in. People kneel there, we do not interfere with that. Sometimes people kneel to show their love, their affection. Some choose to, some do not, but there is a place for this in human history and culture, and we do not say anything about that either.

Sometimes they kneel before nobles, before a human being they think is superior to themselves. It existed in the past and it exists today. We object to this. We stand for equality. A human being does not kneel before another human being, never. Or there are examples in human history of kneeling to ask for forgiveness, to apologize. A people who rise up, a people who struggle, even if they suffer temporary defeats from time to time, never apologize, never ask for forgiveness, never kneel, never."

"THEY WANT US TO KNEEL SO THAT THIS VILE ORDER CONTINUES"

Emphasizing that the government's demand to kneel lies in the desire for the continuation of the order, Okuyan said: "They have seized all the resources of this country. They are exploiting the workers and laborers of this country to the bone. They are getting rich, and the vast majority of our people are unfortunately struggling with hunger and poverty. This is at the root of injustice, lawlessness, and tyranny. All of this is so that this vile order continues. That is why they want us to kneel. So that this order continues..." he said, calling on the citizens gathered in Istanbul to change the order.

TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan: "We will definitely change this order sooner or later. We will do this by not kneeling, by not bowing, by organizing, by struggling. We will take back what they stole from us, what they stole from our people, with interest. Turkey's industry, mines, banking, our resources, our forests, everything will be the property of this people. They privatized, we will nationalize on behalf of this people. How will we do it? They are very powerful. They have money, they have wealth, they have a tyrannical government. They have their judiciary. How will we do it? We will do it just as we did 104 years ago."

"WE KNEEL BEFORE THE HEROES WHO DEFIED THE OCCUPATION"

Reminding of the people who rose up during the War of Independence, Okuyan said: "About 100 years ago, Anatolia was under occupation. Despair prevailed. Then this country rose up and achieved what was called impossible and left us a country. Now when we look, there is a bleak picture that cannot be lived in. Now it is our duty to make this country rise again, to make it a livable homeland again.

While fulfilling this duty, we feel the need to bow with respect before everyone who works for what is beautiful, what is just, for the truth, for independence, secularism, and equality in this country. Since they called on us to kneel, we say this to them: We do not kneel before tyrants, before oppressors. We bow and kneel with respect before our heroes who defied the sultanate, the palace, the caliphate, the imperialists, and the occupation in this country about a hundred years ago, before the entire Anatolian people, their leaders, and Mustafa Kemal," he concluded.

The 'We do not kneel to the government' protests will continue on Tuesday (tomorrow) with calls to kneel for those who lost their lives in workplace murders, and on Wednesday for those who lost their lives in the Gezi Resistance.