People dismissed from their jobs as a result of the decree laws (Kanun Hükmünde Kararnameliler – KHK’s) in Turkey have appealed to those in power and demanded a repeal of these laws.
İstanbul’s KHK Platform issued a press statement during Human Rights Week in Kadıköy’s district of İstanbul. Many people, including Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Musa Piroğlu, were in attendance. A banner was unfurled, declaring: “Decree laws (KHK) are a human rights violation”. Those in attendance chanted slogans: “Decree laws will go, we will stay” and “Humanity’s honour will defeat torture”.
‘You will be judged’
According to Mesopotamia Agency, İstanbul KHK Platform member Kenan Güngördü said that the statement was made on behalf of people who were oppressed by torture, oppression and investigations against them. He stated that they were against all kinds of human rights violations and they were struggling for justice. Describing the decree law and its implementation as a witch-hunt, Güngördü said: “We say that human is ‘human with rights’ during this Human Rights Week. Such an unlawful period has never existed. Stop these deadly decree laws immediately. Do not act illegally. If the state acts against the law, it is not a state anymore. We will mobilise on the streets everyday within the context of Human Rights Week. To those in governance, we say: ‘You will be judged due to all this unlawfulness'”.
‘If we remain silent, the misery will last’
The HDP’s deputy Musa Piroğlu said that those in power considered everyone who opposed them as ‘enemies’ and considered any attacks against those people as legitimate.
Prioğlu stated that: “People lost not only their jobs but all their civil rights due to the decree laws. They have been declared as heimatlos (stateless) in their lands: their rights have been seized. Implementation of this means death for people who have to work to live. If we remain silent, the misery will last. Wherever there is oppression, we will be against it and wherever the oppressed are, we will stand by them”.
Demands
Dismissed by a KHK (decree law), teacher Yurdagül Gider read the statement and announced the following demands:
– Do not ignore our human dignity.
– Stop your lies, slander and hate speeches.
– Stop these crimes against humanity and your implementation which has turned into genocide.
– Stop suppressing courts, judges and prosecutors and stop putting the judicial system out of commission.
– Rescind all the decree laws and their impositions unconditionally.
– Restore all our all rights that you have taken.
Context: The Decree Laws
Since the coup attempt that took place in 2016, the Turkish state issued 131,922 precautions using the decree laws which were announced in the context of emergency state regulations and actions. At least 125,678 public officials were dismissed by the decree laws under a state of emergency. 270 students were discharged from education, 2,761 associations and organisations were shut down and 3,123 people of staff rank were removed, according to Euronews.
