Leading Communists among those arrested in Turkey

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.peoplesworld.org/leading-communists-among-those-arrested-in-turkey/

On the heels of a campaign by the Turkish government to blame it for the recent upheavals here, leading members of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP) are being rounded up and arrested.

In Istanbul, Turkey prosecutors yesterday called for the arrest of twelve activists in the ongoing struggle against construction of a shopping mall complex in Taksim Gezi Park, including leaders of the Taksim Solidarity Platform, Turkish Communist Party (TKP) central executive board member Erkan Bas and TKP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Kamil Tekerek.

Several other party members were taken into custody, as well as Taksim Solidarity Platform member Mücella Yapıcı, Istanbul Medical Chamber General Secretary Ali Çerkezoglu, members of the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, and members of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions. Bas and Tekerek were already in detention for participating in a demonstration in Taksim Gezi Park, but the latest charges represent a serious escalation of Turkish government repression.

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The government red-baiting campaign accuses the Turkish Communist Party of having masterminded the demonstrations. Their were television commentators who claimed that "Communist protesters" had turned peaceful protests into "violent attacks that ruin social order."

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[socialist_n_TN]

1. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

I expect this here at some point in the future. Just when Reds start to become effective and take the lead with the working class and it's organizations, the capitalists will clamp down. It's inevitable. The trick is to have lots of leaders ready to take the place of the imprisoned ones. And then of course, use the imprisonment as a rallying cry.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I have a friend who lived in Turkey teaching English for years.

He always described it as pretty laid back. It's amazing how quickly "round up the Reds" happens when a society resists.

[NuclearDem]

3. Moments like this are exactly why we all need to unite and stand together

They can take down a few of us, but thousands or hundreds of thousands won't be broken.