roarmag.org/2013/06/protests-uprising-workers-strike-turkey/ This is where the dual public sector and metal workers’ strikes may turn out to be crucial events in the development of the ongoing unrest. On Tuesday, June 4, the Public Workers Unions Confederation (KESK), representing 240,000 civil servants, will hold a 48-hour “warning strike” to protest “state terror” in the face of peaceful popular dissent. The strike had already been called last month but happens to coincide with the ongoing protests. If it is to be truly effective, however, this action needs to be turned into an indefinite general strike. The Türk Metal Union has similarly been mulling a strike for June, although it is not yet known if and when it will take place. This strike could be the real game-changer. If the metal workers’ union manages to mobilize anything close to its 115,000 membership, the strike could paralyze the single most important export engine of Turkey’s manufacturing sector. Taken together, these two strikes could bring to a halt not only large parts of the the state apparatus but also the industrial base, putting major pressure on the government to back down. Meanwhile, the stock market is collapsing, losing over 10 percent on Monday alone, hinting at investor fears that Turkey may no longer be the regional role model and capital safe haven it was once touted to be. Over the past decade, Turkey witnessed an investment boom of epic proportions, turning the country into Europe’s fastest-growing economy. Most of the recent inflows, however, are those of Arab sheiks who fear that their investments are no longer safe in Europe due to both the eurozone crisis and a clampdown on ‘dictatorial’ bank accounts. These sheiks may now wish to deposit their money outside of Turkey, triggering a sudden evaporation of the financial base upon which the Turkish economic miracle of the past years ultimately rested. In other words, the ongoing popular uprising may trigger consequences far beyond those currently foreseen by most Western media commentators. The economy, as always, is the Achilles heel of the capitalist state, and by striking right at the heart of the process of capital accumulation the people can significantly weaken the government.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:43:20 +0000
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