TKP protest against arrests: 'Our friends are standing tall, their thoughts are with us'

Citizens who gathered at Mehmet Ayvalıtaş Park at the call of the TKP marched for a fair and equal country.

During the march along the bazaar, slogans such as “Government resign,” “Do not bow down, take ownership of the country,” “This country is ours, we will not leave it to bigots and fascists,” “This country and this people are not for sale,” “We will not bow to darkness,” “Equality and freedom will come with the workers,” and “Thief, murderer AKP” were accompanied by applause and whistles. While the march drew significant interest from the surrounding area, many citizens also supported the protest from their windows with pots and pans.

'YOU ARE ALL AGAINST THE PEOPLE'

Following the march, a gathering was held at Kadıköy Pier Square, where speeches were made. Artist Orhan Aydın, who took the floor first, began his speech by saying, “Thousands of people are on the streets and in the squares, standing up to end this oppressive system as soon as possible.” He continued:

"As comrades who have come together here in Kadıköy, at the Rıhtım, and united their honor, I want to make a call to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice in front of all of you. Release those honorable people you have detained and arrested right now, release them, release them! This is likely a first in your own history and in human history. You have separated 16, 17, 18, and 19-year-old youths from their mothers and fathers, ensuring they spend the holiday in prison. This is called open fascism.

We know you. We know you from all of human history. We are well acquainted with the tyrants who, in time periods we could call just yesterday, tried to maintain oppression and cruelty by putting handcuffs on people's necks, hands, and feet and throwing them into prisons. Abandon this cruelty immediately. Release our youth, our children, our workers, and the people who take to the streets calling for equality and freedom; release them, release them, release them!

We know you. Just as Bertolt Brecht said, with your guards, judges, and prosecutors, you are all against the people. We know you. We know that you are against the people with your laws, your regulations, your prosecutors, your judges, your magazines, and your newspapers. But you will never be able to stop the surging flood of the people."

'WE WILL TAKE IT BACK'

Following Aydın, journalist and author Orhan Gökdemir also gave a speech. Stating, “From now on, we will not look at what the servants of capital are doing in Saraçhane to walk,” Gökdemir pointed out that the demand for equality and freedom must rise from the streets and called for organized struggle. Gökdemir said:

"For years, they said 'do not go out to the streets, it will benefit the AKP.' Our people have shattered that thesis of theirs for ten days; they have picked it up and thrown it away. Today, we begin here by sending a very strong greeting to our comrades whom they took and locked up primarily because they walked, because they stood against this injustice and lawlessness. There is another rally taking place a little further away from here today. A rally for freedom for Ekrem İmamoğlu. The issue is not about one person. The people need freedom. The country needs freedom.

They have torn up and discarded the Constitution. They are rewriting the law, their own law, every day. You see the cruelty they inflict on the people for walking in front of Saraçhane. We know what they are trying to do. Therefore, we are walking, and we will continue to walk. We will walk to defend secularism. We will walk to take ownership of the Republic. We will walk to take back our homeland that they have taken from our hands. We will walk for equality. We will walk for freedom.

We are warning you from here: release the citizens and comrades you have taken away immediately. Because they have committed no crime. But it is a great crime to take away our people's freedom and liberty when there is no crime in sight. We are warning you. If there is no law, there is the street. If there is no law, we have our organized power."

Then, TKP Central Committee Member Senem Doruk İnam spoke. İnam said, “We are on the streets to take ownership of our labor, our bread, and our future, to take ownership of our hard-won right to vote, and to take ownership of the will of our people. We are saying that we will not bow to this tyranny,” and continued:

"They are trying to imprison our country in a great darkness. We are poor, and they are trying to make us even poorer. We are struggling with the cost of living, and they are coming down on us even harder. While we are thinking about how to bring bread to our homes, some continue to fill their coffers and pockets. While we are thinking about what to buy at the market or the greengrocer, they are traveling on yachts and in mansions. While our retirees are asking what bread they will eat, they are living it up. This government is their government.

This government is the government of the rich. This government is the government of the holdings. This government is not the government of us, the laborers, the youth, the retirees who ask how I will make it to the end of the month, or the rebelling youth. This order is not our order. It is not an order we will take ownership of. We want an order where equality, freedom, and justice prevail. We continue to struggle to establish this order."

TKP CC Member Senem Doruk İnam, in her speech pointing to the crisis of governance, said that the government is attacking the right to vote and be elected so that laborers do not take part in politics:

"We said they are impoverishing us. We said they are exploiting us. They are not satisfied with this, dear friends. Yes, by impoverishing us, by exploiting us, by trying to make us bow our heads, they are also attacking our citizenship rights. They say, 'We will take away your right to vote, which is a gain of humanity. We will take away your right to vote and be elected, which is a gain of humanity.'

Do you know why? Because there is no place for laborers in the politics they conduct. There is no place for workers in the politics they conduct. There is no place for women. There is no place for youth.

That is why they say, 'We will narrow this political space.' They say, 'Politics can only and only be done for the holdings.' They say, 'Politics can only be done through sects.' They say, 'If you have something to say, you can only say it in favor of the government.' Will we allow it? We will not allow them to take away the laborers' right to engage in politics. We will continue to take ownership of our right to vote. We will continue to stand on the side of justice and law. Let them suppress as much as they want. Let them try to silence our voices as much as they want. Let them try to make us bow down as much as they want. We will never, ever bow down.

We have been saying it for months. This government, this administration cannot govern. As it fails to govern, it continues to attack. As it fails to govern, they become desperate. As it fails to govern, they try to silence our voices. Since March 19, what we have seen, dear people, is that they poured into the streets to take ownership of the right to vote and be elected; to take ownership of their right to vote; to take ownership of their will. They stood up. They were afraid of this standing up. They were cornered, and that is why they started to attack.

They are trying to keep the ship they sank afloat. While the government tries to keep its ship afloat with the rich, it tries to turn this country into a dungeon for us. The Communist Party of Turkey has given its answer to this very, very clearly."

Senem Doruk İnam, in her speech where she conveyed the greetings of the TKP members who were unlawfully arrested, stated that taking ownership of the country is not a crime and said, “We know very, very well who the real criminals are. And this anger, this determination, this pride has shown once again that we will not be defeated”:

"The government arrested and detained our friends, the TKP Istanbul Provincial President, our members, and our youth to try to silence our voice. We will not be discouraged by this, we will not be afraid of this, we will not bow to this.

Our friends have greetings for you. We know, we are all very angry. But at the same time, we are very proud, friends. Our friends are standing tall, our friends are very well, their thoughts are with us. The only thing they are sad about is not being with us today. But if they are not here, we will speak out louder in their place. We will fight harder in their place. We will declare that we do not bow down more strongly in their place. We say greetings from here. We are strong, standing tall, and determined.

For days, our young friends have been a hope for this country with their excitement, their stubbornness, and their determination. They have given courage to this country. Yes, some were taken from among us. Some were tried to be silenced. But there is one more thing that makes us proud. Both those friends and their families are standing tall. They said, as our friends were leaving, 'Do not let your face look down. You are not the one who is guilty, they are.'

Taking ownership of this homeland, moving this homeland forward is not a crime. We know very, very well who the real criminals are. And this anger, this determination, this pride has shown once again that we will not be defeated.

They do not have our courage, our creativity, our stubbornness. The only thing they have is their power, and we will definitely, absolutely take that power from their hands. These people will not be defeated. These people will not bow down. They will not be able to silence these people."

TKP CC Member İnam, in her speech where she also touched upon the slogan “Everything will be beautiful,” emphasized that one must fight to reach beautiful days and invited citizens to the ranks of the Communist Party of Turkey:

"These people will continue to say secularism, republic, equality, and independence. And there is a party that says these things, dear friends. The Communist Party of Turkey will continue to say secularism in the strongest way. The Communist Party of Turkey will grow the demand for equality in the strongest way. We will continue our struggle for the independence of this country.

The Communist Party of Turkey says that an equal and free country for laborers and workers can only and only come with socialism.

And this does not mean postponing today's struggle. The more we say a new order, the more we say secularism, the more we say socialism; the more we stand against the holdings, the more we stand against the sects, the stronger today's struggle will be. Be sure of this. Let us not give up on this. Let us continue to strengthen this word.

Because do you know why, dear friends? Someone comes out and says, 'Yes, everything will be very beautiful.' Yes, one day everything will be very beautiful. But those beautiful days will not come by themselves, dear friends. To reach those beautiful days, we have to fight from today. We have to engage in politics. We have to take our power into our own hands. We have to strengthen the voice of the republic, secularism, and equality in Turkey. Otherwise, they will crush us. Otherwise, they will try to silence us. Otherwise, they will make us bow down. But the Communist Party of Turkey is the guarantee of this. It is the guarantee that these people will not bow down. It is the guarantee of secularism and socialism.

'WE WILL BRING THE HOLIDAY TO THIS COUNTRY'

Tomorrow is the holiday. Some of our friends are not among us. So be it, let this not lead us to hopelessness and pessimism. After the holiday, our friends will be right by our side. Poor children cannot smile this holiday. The poor are thinking about what I will eat. Retirees are thinking about not having guests at home during the holiday. Women are thinking about whether I will lose my life this holiday. There is no such holiday. Holidays are on days when there are no poor. Holidays are on days when there is equality. We will bring the holiday to this country.

I salute the anger, the determination, and the courage here. The Communist Party of Turkey calls you all to struggle and organization in its own ranks. Come on, to duty for our homeland where we will not bow down and where we will build beautiful days."