Blog: Time for the government to end their silence on Turkey

Since President Recep Erdogan imposed a state of emergency, following the attempted coup in July 2016, Turkey has experienced an extraordinary erosion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The government has targeted many of its actual and alleged critics, including politicians, academics and trade unionists. According to Amnesty International over 120 journalists have been detained, 180 media outlets closed down and 50,000 people remain imprisoned awaiting trial. Public service workers and their unions have been hit particularly hard, with approximately 150,000 workers dismissed or suspended, mainly for alleged terrorist offences. Most have little or no right of appeal and have lost their passports, pensions and rights to work. Only 100 have been reinstated by the government’s State of Emergency Commission. This April President Erdogan declared that the elections planned for late 2019 will now take place at the end of June this year. The decision is controversial, as freedom of speech and assembly will probably be limited by the state of emergency, numerous opposition politicians remain behind bars, and it will bring forward the move to an executive presidency with unprecedented power and very limited parliamentary scrutiny. Today President Erdogan arrives in London for a three day visit which is expected to include meetings with senior government ministers, the Prime Minister and the Queen. The Conservative government has looked to forge a close relationship wit...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News Turkey Source Type: news