Backdrop to Turkey's elections: Turkish workers have seen their unions dismantled under the AKP government, and many have lost collective bargaining rights. The percentage of unionized workers fell from 57.5 in 2003 to just 9.68 percent today. The Syrian war is not popular with the average Turk. The Army opposes any involvement in Syria, because it sees nothing ahead but a quagmire that would ally Turkey with the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The right-wing government is using anti-terror laws to crack down on an old enemy—the union movement. But unionists could lead Turkey's development in a democratic and secular direction.
A united opposition group led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu could finally end the Turkish president’s decades of power
Backdrop to Turkey's elections: Turkish workers have seen their unions dismantled under the AKP government, and many have lost collective bargaining rights. The percentage of unionized workers fell from 57.5 in 2003 to just 9.68 percent today. The Syrian war is not popular with the average Turk. The Army opposes any involvement in Syria, because it sees nothing ahead but a quagmire that would ally Turkey with the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
The right-wing government is using anti-terror laws to crack down on an old enemy—the union movement. But unionists could lead Turkey's development in a democratic and secular direction.
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