Turkey: 'State tries to get rid of its own institutions'

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

22 May 1998 

 Bayram Meral: 'State tries to get rid of its own institutions'

  * Although thousands of workers are fired, the president keeps his
 silence, Meral said
_____________________________________________________________

Ankara - Turkish Daily News

The Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions' (Turk-Is) Chairman Bayram
Meral said that the state did not protect its own institutions and
looked for ways of selling and getting rid of them.

Meral criticized the government for initiating the discussion of the
rise of the retirement age again, following demands of the IMF and the
World Bank, and said, "They cannot impose on us retirement in the
grave."

Bayram Meral, chairman of Seluloz-Is (union of cellulose industry
workers) Davut Bozkan and Democratic Left Party (DSP) Deputy Mumtaz
Soysal participated in the press conference on the privatization of
the Turkish Cellulose and Paper Industry (SEKA), which was held in the
Turk-Is center in Ankara on Thursday. Meral said that the number of
SEKA's employees is decreasing and its technology has not been
renewed, and the government wants to give away that historically
important institution to selected people. Meral claimed that
privatization revenues so far were used up to cover the Treasury's
deficits, and criticized President Demirel's words by stating,
"Privatization cannot be stopped."

Meral said that when Demirel was in opposition, he said that the basic
pillars of the state could not be privatized and promised employment
and food for everyone. But although thousands of workers have been
fired, the president keeps his silence, Meral said.

DSP Deputy Mumtaz Soysal said that privatization of SEKA was a direct
attempt to loot the country and its natural resources. Soysal said
that Turkey did not have a planned forestry policy, and the existing
forested areas were being sold off, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Soysal said that the president did not have the right to defend
privatization, and that he should remain impartial when it came to the
issue of privatization.

Seluloz-Is Union's Chairman Davut Bozkan reiterated the criticism of
the government for attempting to loot SEKA, and added, they had
started a "No vote" campaign for parties supporting privatization.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
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