| At Iraq board; OnWatch said that he have seen fundementalists protestors protesting NATO on TV. As you can see in the following news report, the protestors are socialists not fundementalists. That was just another OnWatch's distortions of reality.
The following article explains what are they protesting? As you can see, it has nothing to do with religion or fundementalism. Turkish socialist has nothing to do about religion anyway.
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
Turkish Civil Aviation Union Hava-Is Chairman Atilay Aycin says, "Hava-Is will take part in all large, legal gatherings that will be held to protest the summit, NATO and all policies of war and occupation and to show that we are on the side of the Iraqi public." He answered questions posed by the Turkish Daily News as to why they don't want NATO and President George W. Bush in Istanbul.
TDN: Why are you against NATO?
AYCIN: As workers and workers' unions, we are against NATO for the same reasons that we are against the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). These organizations are tools for the sovereignty of capitalism over the entire world. They are economic organizations of capitalism and are plundering the globe. NATO is a military tool that has the same purpose. Preparations for a "new NATO" aim to strengthen this role of NATO. The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO are causing all dependent countries, including our own, to go into debt.
TDN: Why are unions, which are workers' organizations, against NATO?
AYCIN: The same policies are being implemented all over the world. They insist on privatization everywhere to facilitate the sovereignty of multinational companies. Privatization causes the closure of plants as well as unemployment and poverty. But despite this, the sovereignty of multinational companies is increasing all over the world. Also, the poor can no longer benefit from the most basic of services, such as health and education. Attacks on workers' rights including retirement, social security and collective bargaining are going on in all countries.
NATO is a military organization whose mission is to provide for the security of the capitalist market for the profit of imperialist monopolies. The fact that NATO is expanding deeper into Europe is part of efforts to establish capitalism in the former Eastern bloc. After the disintegration of this bloc, NATO started the first war in Yugoslavia. Now we can better see the results of this war. Today both Bosnia and Kosovo are managed by governors appointed by the United Nations.
TDN: What is the role given to Turkey?
AYCIN: NATO's real intentions and the role given to Turkey are have not been explained to the public. NATO, which was established as a military defense alliance and which has conducted war, is interested in regions that do not concern it. It determines strategies in parallel with the Greater Middle East Initiative of the United States. It plans to intervene in a broader region, ranging from North Africa to Asia. That means the "new NATO" is clearly defined as a tool for attack and occupation, not a defense and security organization. This is the result of the struggle for global hegemony. This struggle to control energy resources and to share markets is becoming fierce and is taking place in the region surrounding us. The United States is proceeding in a way to achieve sovereignty and wants its rivals to be dependent on it. U.S. spokesmen have clearly expressed the idea that they want to give a shape to NATO that will enable it to achieve these goals. Turkey is in the center of this region, and it is a long-standing member of NATO. In addition to Brussels, there are plans to move NATO headquarters to Izmir. It is envisioned that Turkey will be given an important role in this NATO strategy of intervening in countries in the region.
TDN: Why will Turkey take on this role? Is there a difference between the roles given to other countries and that given to Turkey?
AYCIN: The first thing the occupation authority did in Iraq was to enact a law regarding the privatization of public enterprises that will be wholly owned by foreigners. This is the very same plan envisaged for all national enterprises in Turkey, including Turkish Airlines (THY) and TUPRAS, which we work for. In Iraq, the occupation authority is not giving workers the right to become members of the union of their choosing; it has tried to establish only one legal union. It has not allowed union rights in public companies. The most basic rights of the workers are ignored in Turkey and in other countries.
The United States is pursuing an economic war against its own workers. While all social expenditures are being cut, the huge war budget is making a handful of companies rich.
TDN: What should be the position of the workers' movement be against these policies?
AYCIN: Workers face attacks in all countries of the world. All workers shou |
