NEWS
“Solidarity for Palestine” Labor Organizations’ International Conference
22.01.24, Monday
“Solidarity for Palestine” Labor Organizations’ International Conference was held at the Memur-Sen General Headquarters.
The conference, hosted by Memur-Sen and HAK-İŞ, took place online with the participation of 103 confederations, 120 trade unionists, and 5 regional from 71 countries.
In the conference moderated by Dr. Ahmet Gök, Deputy General President of Memur-Sen, Ali Yalçın expressed his pleasure in organizing such an event, stating, "Today, we are here with leaders of many confederations from different countries. We are here because our common ground is our humanity. A genocide is taking place in Palestine and Gaza. Thousands of people have been martyred. There is no acceptable aspect to it. For a labor movement standing at a humanitarian point like ours, remaining silent in the face of such a process is not possible," he said.
Yalçın, pointing out the widespread global outrage against the massacres initiated by Zionist Israel against Palestine, stated, “We demand the immediate cessation of genocide, the implementation of sanctions against Zionist Israel, and its trial as a war criminal in the International Court of Justice. In our country, we have formed the Palestine Support Platform and have organized hundreds of demonstrations, and continue to do so. We organized Freedom Marches for Palestine in many cities in Turkey” he said.
Yalçın highlighted the importance of creating an agenda with a structure aimed at the joint action of labor organizations showing sensitivity to the Palestine issue. He stated, “This structure should create a common ground for joint action through necessary efforts. We must keep the issue of Palestine on the agenda. I am confident that the reflex we demonstrate in our organized masses will undoubtedly resonate on a global scale,” he said.
Speaking at the program, Mahmut Arslan drew attention to the significant genocide initiated by Zionist Israel against the Palestinian people since October 7th. He stated, “We are facing a massive massacre and genocide in Palestine. Unfortunately, the UN Security Council, the European Union, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and regional organizations have not been able to stop this massacre and genocide. We have come together to organize this program to undertake concert steps against this genocide and the inhumane practices in Palestine,” he said.
Emphasizing that what is happening in Palestine and Gaza is not a war but a massacre, Arslan, “I would like to express my gratitude to all participants who attended our program and shared their views. In the upcoming period, I believe that concrete steps will be taken towards more success and significant decisions will be made, and the days when we will share this with the world public opinion are not far away. We extend our condolences to the martyrs in Gaza and Palestine, wish speedy recovery to the injured, and salute the resistance in Palestine with respect," he said.
The program concluded with the reading of the Final Declaration.
The key outcome of the conference was the decision for the establishment of the International Labor Solidarity Platform for Palestine.