President Erdoğan: Insistence on holding rallies outside permitted areas is not well-intentioned

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made important statements while attending the 13th Labor Council Dinner held at the Presidential Complex Exhibition Hall with the theme "The Future of Labor, Union Organization, and Employment."

Speaking about the May 1st Labor Day, Erdoğan said, "I do not find the impositions regarding Taksim on May 1st to be innocent. Taksim is not a rally site. The routes for rallies and marches in Istanbul are clearly defined."

Highlights from President Erdoğan's statements are as follows:

"TAKSİM IS NOT A RALLY SITE"

We were the ones who opened Taksim to celebrations in 2010 after 32 years.

We ensured that May 1st could be celebrated as Labor Day without the need for any obstacles.

I do not find the impositions regarding Taksim on May 1st to be innocent.

They are trying to cast a shadow over the festive atmosphere.

Taksim is not a rally site. The routes for rallies and marches in Istanbul are clearly defined. 40 separate routes have been designated in Istanbul.

I invite our unions and NGOs to stay away from the May 1st atmosphere.

(Regarding May 1st) 103 events in 55 of our provinces have been permitted. It is clear that the insistence on holding a rally in an area other than those permitted is not well-intentioned.

WORKING LIFE

When we took on the responsibility of serving our country as Prime Minister and President, we never forgot where we came from.

We increased the net minimum wage to 17 thousand 2 TL in 2024. There was a one hundred percent increase compared to January.

We introduced a tax exemption for earnings up to the minimum wage.

Our employment figure rose to 32 million 423 thousand. According to the latest data, the unemployment rate stood at 8.7 percent. The labor force increased by 775 thousand people in the last year.

It is understood that the most important problem is the difficulty in finding workers.

The construction sector, which has been on the rise following the earthquake, is progressing slower than necessary due to a shortage of workers and craftsmen.

While our private sector cannot find personnel to work, long queues are forming in front of official institutions.

We need to re-evaluate our vocational training system and produce more permanent solutions.

It was our privilege to change the law made by the coup plotters after 29 years.

We granted our civil servants the right to collective bargaining. We increased the number of unionized workers from 1 million in 2013 to 2.5 million.

We provided normalization support after the pandemic.

We adopted the principle of providing social security services under equal conditions by abolishing privileged statuses.

We encounter an understanding in our country and in the world that portrays the parties of working life as enemies of each other.

This rigid ideological approach, which defines life only through conflict, fighting, and friends versus enemies, will not benefit our country.

The struggle for rights is not enmity toward employers and capital.

It is clear that a system where the worker receives their rightful share of the added value before their sweat dries is more in line with our cultural and civilizational codes.

Neither the rights of the laborer will be usurped, nor will the boss be marginalized. They will act with a sense of mutual responsibility.

It is certain that we will be successful in other areas of the economy as well.

We have experienced two great sorrows in the weeks we left behind.

TWO TRAGEDIES OCCURRED RECENTLY

29 of our fellow laborers lost their lives in Beşiktaş. Unfortunately, those who claim to defend the rights of the worker did not make a sound. They practically swallowed their tongues.

They continued to shamelessly talk about rights, law, justice, and freedom as if 29 people had never died.

We witnessed the same thing in the cable car tragedy that occurred on the second day of the holiday.

If they could, they would crown those who caused such a disgrace to us.

The struggle for rights and justice is a struggle too meaningful to be sacrificed to political and ideological hooliganism.

When it comes to people and human life, everything else remains in the background.

We look at the scandals in Istanbul Gayrettepe and Antalya from the perspective of conscience.

We are making the necessary efforts for everyone to be held accountable before the law.

We will continue to resolutely implement the occupational health and safety reform.