Freedom to trade union expert İsmet Aslan
We are the trade union experts from different unions in Turkey.
We are the colleagues of Mr. İsmet Aslan who is an expert of the Confederation Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK) and has been under arrest in the Tekirdag F type prison because of his political identity and opinions since January 17, 2012.
Trade union experts, like our colleague İsmet, are always on the side of labour and nameless heroes of the trade union movement.
Trade union experts, like our colleague İsmet, regard working modestly for progress of class movement and workers’ rights not only as an ordinary work but also as a responsibility at the same time.
Trade union experts are the citizens who adopt working for the values of labour, democracy, freedom and peace as a principle.
Trade union experts, are well aware of that İsmet and many others are in prison because of their political views not because of judicial arguments.
As our colleague İsmet Aslan, we have political opinions and ideas different from the political authority in Turkey while we have also different political opinions from each other.
Considering all these reasons we ask for immediate release of KESK Law and Collective Bargaining Expert İsmet Aslan. Because we see this baseless and unjust imprisonment targeting labour and democracy forces and all people carrying trade union activities.
We have witnessed that he has been participating in all of the KESK activities and arduously struggling for making the voice of labourers heard since 2006 when he started to work as a trade union expert in KESK. We are sure that he has been taking part in the struggle of public employees’, not engaged in any covert activities.
We think that restraining İsmet Aslan from carrying out trade union activity is a very serious loss and injustice against both İsmet Aslan and public employees’ movement.
As his friends we also want to share our concerns regarding his health. Our friend İsmet Aslan is Mycosis Fungoides, a kind of skin cancer. So he needs routine medical care. Prison conditions pose a serious threat to his health.
We, the undersigned, are on the side of our colleague İsmet Aslan and ask for immediate release of him.
İsmet Aslan'a Özgürlük 