The Halkevleri stage a demonstration in front of the German Consulate in Istanbul to protest how the refugee problem stemming from the war policies on Syria have become a bargaining chip between the AKP and the EU
The Halkevleri stage a demonstration in front of the German Consulate in Istanbul to protest how the refugee problem stemming from the war policies on Syria have become a bargaining chip between the AKP and the EU. The Halkevleri have called for a common struggle against the war criminals who have tried to take advantage of the current situation
The People’s Houses (Halkevleri) staged a protest on Feb. 12 in front of Germany’s consulate in Istanbul to protest how the refugee crisis has become a tool of bargaining between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the European Union.
The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasing use of refugees as a tool against the EU in response to a number of reverses in its policies on Syria was recently laid bare after the leakage of minutes from meetings with the European Commission illustrated how the topic has become a bargaining chip.
In response, the Halkevleri issued a press statement in front of the consulate to protest the partnership in crime of the EU, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the AKP, declaring that “there can be no bargaining over the lives of refugees.”
“Those responsible for the crisis are bent on turning the situation to their advantage”
Protesters display signs in German reading, “Merkel is supporting the murderer of the Germans killed in the Sultanahmet bombing.”
Halkevleri General-Secretary Nuri Günay accused Merkel of using her recent trip to Turkey to attempt to turn the refugee crisis to her advantage.
“Even if there rhetoric is different, both sides are not concerned with the lives of refugees, the oppression that they have faced or the inhuman conditions that they have experienced; on the contrary, they are primarily responsible for the migration of 6 million Syrians, the deaths of 368 in January alone, the exploitation of millions as a cheap labor force in the countries to which they have fled, as well as the abuse that they have faced,” said Günay.
Günay also accused Erdoğan of not taking any steps to help refugees despite making a show of “opening our arms to refugees.”
Call for a joint struggle against the partners in war crimes
It has become apparent once more that the refugee crisis, which has accelerated with the cutting off of the supply routes for jihadists in Aleppo, is a significant aspect of the current war policies, Günay said, calling for a joint struggle from all peoples against this partnership in crime, which extends from those that favor imperialist intervention to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
“The struggle for a free, independent and secular Middle East is the struggle of us all. Let us fight together against war policies and those in power that implement such policies,” Günay said.
“Refugees cannot be the subject of dirty bargaining. The destruction experienced by the Syrian peoples is not the problem of the hegemonic classes, but our common dilemma. The struggle by those who were forced to leave Syria for a human life and rights in their new countries is the struggle of all of us. Let us stand up against these war crimes,” Günay said.
Long live the brotherhood of the people!
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