European Trade Union Committee for Education

On 3-5 May 2017 the 2nd joined ITUC/ETUC mission to Ankara took place. Jaap Wienen, ITUC Deputy General secretary, and Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary, led the delegation joined by the ETUC President, representatives from two national confederations – the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and the British Trade Union Congress (TUC) - ; the European Trade union Committee for Education (ETUCE), the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), UNI Global and IndustriAll Global.

The objectives of the mission were to show solidarity with Turkish people affected by the state of emergency, assess the situation especially in the aftermath of the prolonged state of emergency and the referendum, and recall the aims of the Joint Statement of ETUC, ITUC, TURK-IS, HAK-IS, DISK and KESK.

During the mission, the delegates met with the four ITUC/ETUC Turkish confederations, Türk-iş, Hak-iş, DISK and KESK, representatives of the main Turkish political parties, the EU delegation and the ILO office, NGOs and human rights associations, the Turkish Bar Association and the Ministry of Labour.

The mission participants expressed common concern in relation to the ongoing mass dismissals and suspensions, the lack of both access to and fairness of lawsuits,  the rule of law having been blocked.

The delegates also had the opportunity to meet with Mesut FIRAT, Eğitim Sen General Secretary, and a delegation of dismissed public workers, including education personnel.