HDP member of parliament Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu launched a petition on October 5, World Teachers’ Day, and said: “The government should be reinstated the teachers who are the victims of the State of Emergency and a Decree-Law to their jobs by compensating for all their loss of rights.”
Gergerlioğlu, who tries to be the voice of the oppressed ones and the victims through his statements and campaigns at every opportunity, stated that the treacherous coup theater, which was exhibited July 15, 2016, led to many oppressions, convictions, and unjust treatments, and along with it, led to irreparable human tragedies. Gergerlioğlu wants to draw attention to the petition on the persecutions and human rights violations in Turkey and invites the world public to be sensitive to humanity’s drama.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu gave the following statements while starting the petition:
“PLACE WHERE TEACHERS SHOULD BE IS SCHOOLS WITH THEIR STUDENTS.”
With the Decree Laws, the AKP government disregarded universal rules of law such as “presumption of innocence,” “legality in crime and punishment,” “the right against self-incrimination,” and “individuality of criminal responsibility.”
The Government dismissed around 150,000 people from civil service without any justification. Approximately 55,000 teachers among the Decree-Law victims have not been able to perform their profession for the last four years.
This injustice, which causes the violation of the right to education, must be ended as soon as possible.
Justice delayed is justice denied. We launched a new petition for the manifestation of righteousness. We expect you to support our campaign by signing and sharing it with your inner circle.
After the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish Government dismissed approximately 35,000 teachers working in the Ministry of Education of Turkey from their profession by violating the presumption of innocence with Decree Laws. The Government revoked the licenses of 20,000 teachers working in private education institutions.
The Government arbitrarily banned fifty-five thousand teachers from working as teachers in the public and private sectors.
Officials did find none of these teachers be related to the coup. Despite this, the AKP government disregarded the freedom of labor and contracts guaranteed by these teachers’ Constitution, whom he regarded as opposed to himself.
Each teacher deprived of his/her students and from his/her beloved profession is a significant value lost for Turkey. AKP is trying to destroy these values with her arbitrary decisions. On the other hand, there are serious tragedies taking place. Violations of rights and unjust treatments continue to the extreme.
Educators, who have been trained for years and have not been allowed to do their teaching profession, are facing with unlawful practices such as passport cancellation, blockage of bank accounts, not being able to trade in the land registry cadaster, not being able to use bank loans and cancellation of bank credit cards.
Teachers who are labeled as “Dismissed from Public Service with the Decree-Law” in the SSI Service Scheme documentation, which is a shame for Social Security Institution (SSI) and Turkish Employment Institution (İŞKUR), are again disappointed with the rejection response from their workplaces in the different sectors they have applied for.
The Government deprived fifty-five thousand teachers who were victims of the Decree-Law of the right to work. Teachers can not get their basic human needs, such as nutrition and shelter, and the public left the teachers to die.
Teachers who have to work in construction works without any experience and unfortunately lost their workplace homicide lives are another dark side of the Decree Laws.
These teachers’ lives deprived of their professions by arbitrary decisions, were upside down due to being prevented from teaching again and even entering another job. Gergerlioğlu said:
“The pain of dozens of teachers who committed suicide, died while working informally in construction, had psychological problems, ended their marriage, and drowned in the Evros River and the Aegean Sea while trying to escape the persecution” and continued his words as follows:
We say that teachers’ place is schools, classes with their students. The Government should give back to the Teachers’ rights who are victims of the Decree-Law. We want the Government to implement the Constitution’s Universal Law principles and give back the teachers’ rights.
By compensating for all their rights loss, our teachers should return to their schools and students immediately. That request is our most essential and primary demand.
The Government should pay to a maximum and reinstate to their jobs together with all their rights that existed at the time of their dismissal with the Decree-Law to the teachers even though it is impossible to compensate for both materials nonmaterial losses within this period. Additionally, we want their restoration of honor and this unlawfulness’s responsibilities to be brought to justice and to be accounted for.
We launched a petition to meet the justified demands of 55,000 teachers who are victims of the Decree-Law.
We ask for the immediate reinstatement of teachers in question to their jobs by compensating all the loss of their rights and ask for teachers whose licenses were revoked due to being a worker of the closed educational institutions. The Government should allow the teachers to work in the private sector by returning their working licenses. We want the freedom of labor and enterprise freedom to be ensured, among the most fundamental rights. End these unlawfulness acts immediately!”
Lastly, Gergerlioglu said: “Join our signature campaign, share and support us.”
The Broken Chalk members supported the petition campaign launched by Gergerlioğlu since the Broken Chalk members also wished to end those persecutions taking place in Turkey.
Additionally, on October 5, World Teachers’ Day, the Broken Chalk volunteers gathered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ capital. They shared the unjust treatments with the world public with press releases in Turkish, English, and Dutch.
Zafer Kurt
06/10/2020
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