TURKEY Turkey, dozens of protesters arrested on Peace Day

Activists and political parties organized marches in different cities of the country. The security forces intervened with a heavy hand. The NGOs speak of “arbitrary and illegal attack”. A journalist denounced “harassment” by plainclothes agents. President Erdogan accused the teachers who took to the streets of being “hooligans”.

Istanbul () – Dozens of arrests at the hands of security forces marked Peace Day, which was commemorated yesterday in Turkey with marches and events promoted by parties and activist organizations in Istanbul, Ankara, Diyarbakır and many other cities in the country. . For his part, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again attacked teachers – who have already been protagonists of strikes and protests in the past – accusing them of “hooligans” for participating in a demonstration in the streets of the capital. The protest ended with a violent police crackdown.

Hundreds of people gathered yesterday in Kadıköy, a residential area on the Asian side of Istanbul, in response to a call by trade union, peace and democratic forces. The agents surrounded the place and prevented the march, provoking the protest of those present, who tried to force the blockade. The police used pepper spray and made dozens of arrests, including three members of the “Mothers for Peace”.

Freedom for Lawyers Association (Öhd) stated that the security forces detained close to a hundred people in what it called an “arbitrary and illegal attack”. Police also targeted reporters covering Peace Day events, and a female journalist reported that she had been sexually harassed by a plainclothes officer. “I was prevented – accused Tuğçe Yılmaz, from Bianet – from covering the events as my colleagues did and I was physically assaulted by a police officer”.

The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) organized rallies and marches in the Kurdish-majority provinces of Van and Şırnak, and its co-chairs delivered speeches to thousands of people in attendance. Mithat Sancar, who attended the event in Silopi (Şırnak), told the crowd: “People who aspire to justice and democracy in Turkey and anywhere else in the world should oppose wars. We have to create a great alliance against the war.” Sancar criticized Turkish cross-border military activities in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, noting: “They are preparing for war against those who live on the other side of the border, in particular the Kurdish people. And in southern Kurdistan the invasion policies continue.”

For their part, teachers have become the latest professional category to attract the wrath of President Erdogan after the protest in Ankara where the violent intervention of the police took place. The teachers called yesterday to boycott the professional exams that should be held in November. Erdogan described the move as a “malicious attempt to use our teachers as a political element.” Teachers’ unions and the main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, have launched a campaign for the boycott, saying the exams are unnecessary and an additional burden on teachers.

“Are you an architect of education or are you one of the hooligans going around?” Erdogan asked a group of teachers during an indictment in Ankara. “We need teachers -he added- who are with our children, not those who walk the streets.” The word “hooligans” has a special political resonance because Erdogan has used it to describe those who participated in anti-government protests in Gezi Park in 2013. The president and his supporters now apply the term to anyone who takes part in demonstrations, regardless of what happens in them.