March for the Freedom of Palestine in Sakarya

Memur-Sen and leading NGOs in our country, under the umbrella of the “Support Platform for Palestine”, joined forces to organize a march and press statement in Sakarya against the genocide carried out by the occupying Israeli forces in Gaza.

The “Support Platform for Palestine”, which has contributed to increasing awareness in the public through mass press statements, actions, and marches against the genocide carried out by Zionist Israel with the support of Western imperialist powers since October 7th, organized the first of the planned marches in all Anatolian cities, in Sakarya. 

Thousands of members of the platform gathered in front of Sakarya People's Garden, holding Turkish and Palestinian flags in their hands. They marched along Sakarya Çark Street, chanting slogans against Israel and Western imperialist powers, including and the United States.

After the march, addressing the crowd, Memur-Sen General President and Spokesperson for the Palestine Solidarity Platform, Ali Yalçın, stated that Israel is openly committing the crime of genocide in Gaza in front of the whole world. “3 million people confined to a narrow area are being bombed by warplanes, missiles, tanks, from the air, land, and sea. The U.S. is supplying weapons to genocide. England, France, Germany support the genocide. Western capital finances the genocide. Global media conceals the genocide through censorship, lies, distortion, and disinformation, hiding the brutality and silencing rising voices of opposition. Social media companies reverse the truth with horrendous censorship”, he said. 

Gaza is experiencing the Genocide of the Century 

Continuing his speech, Ali Yalçın shared the figures regarding the massacre in Gaza, “In 47 days, Gaza has turned into a valley of death, a massive mass grave. The numbers are horrifying: more than 14,500 martyrs; of these, more than 6,000 are children, and 4,000 are women... 35,000 injured... 80% of them are women and children... 7,000 people missing. 233,000 homes are uninhabitable. 26 hospitals, 55 health centers, dozens of ambulances, 266 schools, 174 mosques, and 3 churches were bombed.” 

We will use every opportunity to stop the oppressor 

Emphasizing that what has happened in Gaza has “revived the blinded conscience of the entire world” and that “resistance has turned into a global intifada”, despite international institutions, especially the United Nations (UN) and its affiliated organizations, forgetting their principles and responsibilities, Yalçın said that “We know that justice will not come from an order where the murderer is the legislator. Therefore, we do not make an appeal to Israel, the U.S., or Western states. We know that hope is within us, and we are the solution. We will use every opportunity to support our brothers and stop the oppressor. We will support our brothers with our financial means, and we will boycott the sponsors of Zionism”. 

To defend the Palestinian Resistance is a matter of dignity 

Yalçın emphasized that the struggle of the Palestinians is within the scope of legitimate defense. He stated that defending the Palestinian resistance is a matter of dignity for them.