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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHIT #0329 1711123
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191123Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
TO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA PRIORITY 2360
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8250
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EIND EWWT PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:ONE DAY STRIKE PROTESTS INDUSTRIAL 
ACCIDENTS AT ISTANBUL SHIPYARDS 
 
REF: A. ISTANBUL 180 
     ¶B. ISTANBUL 363 
 
 ¶1. (U) The Ship Construction and Repair Workers, Trade 
Union (Limter-Is) held a one day strike on June 16 to protest 
14 recent  deaths at Istanbul's Tuzla shipyards.  According 
to press reports, thousands of workers and union supporters 
reportedly demonstrated against the dangerous work 
environment at the shipyards where 14 workers have died 
within the last six months; scene of a series of fatalities 
since March (reftel A).  No one was reportedly injured or 
arrested as a result of the strike. 
 
¶2. (U) Members of Limter-Is, which is attached to the 
Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Union (DISK), carried 
banners attacking the ruling Justice and Development Party 
(AKP)  as "the murderers in Tuzla". Opposition Republican 
People,s Party (CHP) deputy Cetin Soysal, and pro-Kurdish 
Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputies Akin Birdal and 
Sabahat Tuncel also participated in the protests. In 
addition, the Marine Engineers Chamber, the Transportation 
Union  (Nakliyat-Is), United Metal Workers (Birlesik 
Metal-Is), and the Genc-Sen union demonstrated with Limter-Is 
at the shipyard.  Suleyman Celebi, President of DISK, said 
the shipyards in Tuzla should fully comply with worker health 
and job security regulations and the contractor system (see 
reftel A for details) should be abolished. 
 
¶3. (U) The peaceful demonstration in Tuzla was a marked 
contrast with other recent Istanbul pro-labor marches.  Over 
500 labor supporters were arrested during this year's violent 
May Day demonstrations near Taksim Square for which the AKP 
also took heat (reftel B). A two-day strike that Limter-Is 
organized at the Tuzla shipyards 27-28 February also resulted 
violence with 75 workers and union members were arrested. 
 
¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Little has changed since the media began to 
focus on Tuzla conditions earlier in the year, despite 
continued work related deaths. Shipyards continue to rely 
primarily on unskilled subcontracted labor; one of the 
primary causes of the work-related accidents according to 
many observers (reftel A).   Workers are often undocumented 
or desperate for employment. The Parliament appointed a 
commission to look into the industrial accidents at Tuzla, 
however this group took weeks to form and has not yet 
finished its investigation. 
WIENER