{"id":41276,"date":"2026-03-16T15:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/41276\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:40:23","slug":"turkish-union-leader-jailed-after-speech-supporting-protesting-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/41276\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish union leader jailed after speech supporting protesting workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Turkish court on Monday ordered the arrest of a labor union leader after a speech supporting protesting carpet factory workers, the Evrensel daily reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mehmet T\u00fcrkmen, head of the B\u0130RTEK-SEN textile workers union, was taken into custody on Sunday after gendarmes raided his home and seized electronic devices. Prosecutors accused T\u00fcrkmen of offenses including inciting hostility among the public and spreading misleading information following remarks he made during a protest supporting workers at a carpet factory in southeastern Turkey.<\/p>\n

The arrest came after workers at the S\u0131rma Hal\u0131 carpet factory staged protests over delayed wages. T\u00fcrkmen had spoken at a March 13 demonstration in Gaziantep\u2019s Bal\u0131kl\u0131 Square, accusing factory owners of failing to pay workers on time and criticizing workplace safety conditions.<\/p>\n

S\u0131rma Hal\u0131 is owned by Hanifi \u015eireci, a businessman with close ties to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrkmen denounced the decision after the court hearing, arguing that the case illustrates unequal treatment between workers and employers in Turkey\u2019s justice system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorkers die in factories every year, losing arms and hands, yet not a single employer is even questioned,\u201d T\u00fcrkmen said after the ruling, according to statements released by the union. \u201cBut a member of a union is jailed simply for raising these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Union officials and lawyers condemned the arrest, describing it as an attempt to intimidate labor activists and discourage organizing among workers.<\/p>\n

Tugay Bek, T\u00fcrkmen\u2019s lawyer, said prosecutors had sought his arrest over remarks about workplace accidents and workers\u2019 right to organize. Bek said the legal team will appeal the ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis arrest decision sends a warning to workers,\u201d Bek said, adding that similar legal pressure often emerges during periods when workers stage protests over wages and workplace conditions.<\/p>\n

Union representatives also criticized the ruling. Mikail K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7alp said the union rejects the decision and vowed to continue supporting the protesting workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not recognize this ruling,\u201d K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7alp said, arguing that the decision protects employer interests while targeting labor organizers.<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrkmen had previously been detained during labor protests in the Ba\u015fp\u0131nar industrial zone in February 2025 and spent more than a month in jail before being released under house arrest, which was later lifted.<\/p>\n

Labor rights advocates say workplace accidents and wage disputes remain persistent issues in Turkey\u2019s industrial sector, while critics accuse authorities of using broad criminal charges to curb activism and public criticism.<\/p>\n

Lawyers representing T\u00fcrkmen said they will challenge the detention order as the case proceeds through the courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Turkish court on Monday ordered the arrest of a labor union leader after a speech supporting protesting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[423,23322,425,426,312,427,428,23323,429,431,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-41276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-akp","9":"tag-birtek-sen-textile-workers-union","10":"tag-democracy","11":"tag-erdogan","12":"tag-human-rights","13":"tag-justice","14":"tag-law","15":"tag-mehmet-turkmen","16":"tag-oppression","17":"tag-rule-of-law","18":"tag-stockholm","19":"tag-sweden"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116239612170509174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}