Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Protest on Green Lanes
In case you were thinking of driving down Green Lanes, it's blocked off for a (presumably Kurdish) protest march so take another route.
Tags for Forum Posts: kurdish marches
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kyri on
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And so what if it is the Kurdish community protesting. Protesting is better than sitting in front of your laptop moaning on forums like this.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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There's a bit of moaning, yes. But when a few thousand people get together on say Twitter for example, it counts as a protest. Just me walking down the road asking for justice is still only moaning.
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As Hannie P said.
Many of the posters were about the Turkish mining disaster and there were chants for 'justice', which is completely reasonable.
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Sorry can't link.
Sam B-How is this, on Green Lanes, gonna do them any good?
Perhaps;-
1/The video link/ tweets of the demonstration will go back to show solidarity to a hard pressed community.
2/The actual protest itself produces solidarity among those taking part and perhaps people in this area.
3/ The Turkish government through its embassy will know about this and not like it.
4/ Sometimes it may seem futile but when faced with an oppressive government you just have to get out wherever you are and shout.John "few thousand people get together on say Twitter for example, it counts as a protest. Just me walking down the road asking for justice is still only moaning."
"Just you walking down the street asking for justice is still only moaning", These protesters have a valid cause- they are not just "moaning", and anyway there were hundreds of people and some would have been tweeting the event back to Turkey to show solidarity, which counts for more than sitting in your bedroom alone spouting on line.
Twitter may add to a campaign but where does it go from there? To direct action, i.e physically protesting perhaps to change things? Anyone involved in protesting in Turkey is not unaware of the role of twitter as an organising tool in say the Taksim Square demonstrations and in the dissemination of news and photographs from the demonstrators to news agencies, however IMO Twitter is not the protest. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/06/201361212350593971...
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I took it a little personally that I'm just the type to sit in my room and protest, if it bothers me I do go for more direct action. I get this but walking into a group of people chatting and accusing them of moaning was effectively what was done here. Way before that protest there was some "moaning"...
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When people peacefully protest, others say 'what good will it do?' When they take up arms, they are called 'terrorists'. We have witnessed huge mass protests around the world recently but rarely do leaders give in to democratic demands. In Syria, Egypt, Libya, demands for freedom were met with bullets. We need to build mass democratic organisations that are controlled by the membership. What is scary about UKIP is that huge numbers are voting for a bunch of proto fascists who will do whatever they want as UKIP is in no way controlled by its members. Sadly, the same is true for Labour. The Greens are democratic and I have hopes for Left Unity. We should be supporting those who are pointing the finger at Erdogan and his rich friends who have profited from the appalling conditions in Turkish mines.
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Yes. Does anyone know who is buying the coal that was being mined there?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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When I saw the headline, I thought you were talking about the mess outside the Salisbury
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Permalink Reply by Oktay Sahbaz on
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Well having read all the discussions I felt it will be right for someone who was at the march to respond.
First of all I do not blame anyone who have expressed views here for the way they think. I will take all of the points here as a way of developing and improving our links with the native community we live with.
On 13th May 2013, at least 301 coal miners have lost their lives in the western town of Soma, Turkey, after an explosion caused a pit to collapse. Dozens of miners have injured, 4 of which are in critical condition. Hundreds are still trapped underground, 2km below the surface and 4km from the mine entrance. Soma Kömürleri AŞ privately owns the mine. The explosion occurred during a shift change, therefore it is still unclear as to exactly how many people are still underground in the mine. It is said that during the shift change there were 787 workers, this means that there is still 220 miners still unaccounted for!
Morgues in the nearby hospitals have filled up. The dead bodies are now being stored in the cold air storages of butchers. The declaration of three days mourning; cancellation of the Prime Minister’s travel plans; messages of condolences; the presence of a minister at the scene; these are all crocodile tears and attempts to hide the reality! The people have not forgotten that it was Prime Minister Erdogan who cried out “death is the destiny of coal miners” after a murder incident that took place in the mines a short while ago.
The “research and investigation commission” of mining risks proposed by the opposition parties CHP, MHP and BDP’s members of parliament was rejected by the AKP government just 20 days ago. Motions forwarded by the HDP Istanbul MP Levent Tuzel in relation to the coal mining industry were brushed aside with excuses such as “the relevant ministers are carrying out constant inspections”. The coalmine where the latest murder occurred was recently privatized when an opening ceremony was attended by the Energy and Natural Resources and Social Security Minister Taner Yildiz, who declared the coalmine as the “safest coalmine in Europe”, clearly expresses the two-faces of the government.
The recent statement made by directors of the company that owns the mine, which bragged on about reducing expenses by around 60%, also has not been forgotten. Reducing the workforce, compulsory redundancies of experienced workers, subcontracting inexperienced workers, these are just some of the tactics of the greedy bosses in pursuit for higher profit margins, which prepared the conditions for this mass murder. One of the workers who died was only 15 years old; this clearly expresses the extent of the exploitation that is taking place. If the bosses are still claiming that this was a “painful accident”, despite all that has occurred, this shows that they are ready to commit more murders of workers, all in the name of higher profit!
The media exponents of the bosses and government speak of high standards of safety within the mines and also refer to the incident as a “painful accident” in their headlines. Furthermore, the value given to workers is clearly expressed in the words of an “expert” of Soma coalmines, Professor Dr. Orhan Kural, who said on a TV channel that “Dying from carbon monoxide is sweet; they would feel no pain. I wish myself a painless death too”.
This has made the people of Turkey angrier about the government, especially after what happened last summer with the Gezi park. So there were mass protests in more or less everywhere in Turkey protesting the death of coal miners and governments role in implementing privatisation and sub contracting of workers, people of Turkey demanded the government to resign!! Turkish police have followed the orders of the government in brutally beating and using tear gas on people. This brutality forced more people to go out on streets which initiated the police to start using their guns with real bullets. This resulted with two more young people losing their lives, this came on top of the killing of Kurdish people in Easter Turkey in Rojava, killing of 8 young person last year during Gezi Park upraise, followed by 301 coal miners who were murdered as the government failed to regulate the coal mines properly.
As members of this community we have been doing lots of activities to raise awareness within the native community and build international solidarity for the people of Turkey. As well as doing protests and demonstrations in central London we felt it was important raise awareness within the Turkish and Kurdish Community in North London. Also communities in North London of whom which we have been living together also needed to know the issues as media have constantly failed to show a detailed account of the events in Turkey. Hence that’s why we have organised the march in green lanes.
Is this enough? Can other things be done to highlight issues in Turkey?
Protests and marching on its own is certainly not enough and cannot be the only way of highlighting the issues of people of Turkey. Also as migrant communities our aim should not just be about raising awareness of these issues but also to build international pressure that could get the Turkish government to act. On this note there things than can be done by everyone. As a trade unionist I can tell you what I did, having contacted all the trade unionst in my union and other unions I got them to send emails to Turkish government representatives whose details are below. This has an impact as it is coming from outside and from Europe. As country who is trying almost everything to go into EU this sort of pressure makes an impact, more of this the better. Lots of trade unions around UK have done this and even done fund raising to support the families who got killed. We have also managed to organise events in front of Turkish embassy to protest the killings and demanded justice.
More can be done and should be done. For example, main political parties can do things to highlight these issues and do some lobbying in the parliament. However despite having Turkish speaking councillors not one main political party has done anything on this. Even last year when things were much more serious they have failed to do anything to highlight the issues and failed put Turkish government under international pressure for it to stop killing its own people.
The only source of support have been organisations like TUSC and trade unions. A group of trade unions have even went to Turkey as delegates and made observations which they later share with the media here.
No one is too late to support the people of Turkey against the killing and recent issues in Turkey. If you want to help then do take few minutes to send protest emails to below Turkish government officials to put further pressure. Or simply write to your local mp to do something..
Turkish President
Mr Abdullah Gül
Email: cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr, Fax 0 (312) 470 24 33
Turkish Republic Prime Minister:
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,
Email: bimer@basbakanlik.gov.tr, Fax: +90 312 422 26 69, +90 312 422 18 99
Turkish Republic Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources
Mr. Taner Yıldız
Email: bilgi@enerji.gov.tr Phone: +90 312 212 64 20
Apologies for the long post.
Oktay Sahbaz
PS: If you want more info or like to discuss this further do email me on oktyshbz@gmail.com
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Well said. I hope that clarifies for some of you why the protest locally is important. As for Haringey being British .... For at least the last 60 years this area has had a strong Greek and Turkish Cypriot, Turkish and Kurdish communities. So for those of you that have moved here since then surely recognise it is is part of the rich diversity that you should have embraced when you moved here.
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