Emin Şakir must be freed

November 30, 2017

A socialist in Turkey has been detained after a court hearing on charges related to a website that contains material from different left-wing organizations across the country. This assault on a basic human right is part of the wave of repression carried out over the past year and a half by the Turkish government following a failed military coup. The repression has been directed at many different organizations and individuals, including those who publicly opposed the coup as it took place and have no conceivable connection to it. Clearly, the regime of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is using the botched overthrow attempt as an excuse to lash out at all dissent. International activists are organizing a campaign of solidarity to defend Emin.

EMIN ŞAKIR, a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party (DSIP) in Turkey, has been arrested.

He is charged with archiving socialist material on a website. The site brings together publications from many left organizations.

He has been sent to Maltepe Prison.

The Turkish state unleashed terror against its opponents after a failed coup in 2016. It has targeted all shades of opposition and the Kurdish people.

President Erdogan has ordered the sacking and jailing of huge swathes of people, many of whom did not back the coup.

More than 4,500 academics have been driven from their positions in the last year.

Almost 400 were removed because they had signed a petition condemning the state's militaristic policies in Kurdish areas and calling for a return to negotiations.

First published at Socialist Worker (UK).

Socialist activist Emin Şakir
Socialist activist Emin Şakir (Devrimci Sosyalist İşçi Partisi | Facebook)

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