No western "democracy" has even investigated, much less prosecuted,
or even punished STATE CRIMES.
May Day to put unsolved political murders under spotlight
21 April 2011, Thursday / EMINE DOLMACI/TANJU ÖZKAYA , İSTANBUL
This year's May Day will be marked with a different call as the celebrations sponsored by the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DİSK) will be held with an emphasis on discovering those behind unsolved politically motivated murders.
The workers will demand that the authorities shed light on the murder of 34 workers who were shot dead in İstanbul's Taksim Square on May 1, 1977. The incident, also referred to as
Bloody May Day, also resulted in 136 others being injured after unknown assailants opened fire on the crowd from the Marmara Hotel in Taksim Square. After announcing the main theme of the May Day events, DİSK held a march from the neighborhoods of Şişli to Taksim in İstanbul on Wednesday. The workers unfurled a banner that read, "To demand resolution for [the unsolved] political murders on May 1 in Taksim," as they chanted slogans against the murderers. The group was led by Neşe Bulut, whose husband, Necdet Bulut, was assassinated in 1978; Nilgün Soydan, whose workers' union leader father Kemal Türkler was killed in 1980; and Arat Dink, son of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.
"Our main goal is to continue working relentlessly so that light may be shed on all [unsolved] political murders, not only the May 1 massacre," DİSK Vice Chairman İsmail Yurtseven said in his remarks at the tram stop in Taksim. "For Turkey to have a brighter future, we must first cast light on unsolved murders," he said, adding, "It is not possible to talk about either democracy, human rights or freedoms without shedding light on the murders carried out by what you may call the deep state, Gladio, Ergenekon, contra-guerilla, or whatever and without the perpetrators of those crimes being called to account for what has been done."
Yurtseven called for 1 million people come to Taksim Square to demand the resolution of unsolved politically motivated murders on May 1.
Addressing the crowd, Soydan noted that 34 years have passed since Bloody May Day, but also said, "Even if 34 more years pass, those behind the murders can still be caught." Highlighting the importance of 1 million people voicing this demand, she continued: "A common demand voiced by 1 million people in Taksim on May 1 will pave the way for the assailants to be revealed. It is a requirement of democracy and human rights that the voices of that many people are heeded."
Until last year's May Day, Taksim Square was the site of skirmishes between demonstrators and security forces on May 1 because it was closed to rallies after May Day 1977, when the holiday became a source of tension in Turkey. But the government decided to declare May Day an official holiday in 2009 and open Taksim Square up to celebrations. Three decades after Bloody May Day, Taksim Square became the venue of peaceful celebrations last year.
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