GFTU BGCM Minutes 2017
will not do is go and organise where someone else is organised, so if the RMT
are organised on particular ferries around the UK, then we work with them, we
do not work instead of them. The RMT and Unite will be very much UK
generic, so there is a place for both in effect, because UK is not our thing
really. We represent a lot of UK people, but because they are not protected
under the UK legislation we have to make sure that things are happening in
Europe and internationally. It is just different mechanics really.
THE PRESIDENT: Thanks very much indeed.
KURDISTAN
THE GENERAL SECRETARY: We have a long, long tradition in the movement
generally, but particularly in the GFTU which had the role of being the
international arm of the movement when it was first founded, that despite all the
problems that we have got, always trying to extend a hand of friendship to
brothers and sisters overseas and you will know that we have been able to
highlight over the years a number of countries and struggles which perhaps the
movement generally has not known a great deal about or has neglected. We
built, for instance, recently good relations with the trade union movement in
Vietnam.
Over the last couple of years we have become more aware of the situation
facing the Kurdish people and, of course, we have more recently become
aware of the drive basically to fascism in Turkey and the tyranny that is being
imposed on trade unions and public sector workers have been sacked,
lecturers have been sacked and, of course, progressive MPs are now in prison
in Turkey. So we have become more aware of that. We did some work on
Kurdistan at the Youth Festival, we had a presentation to our Executive and we
have got the big Kurdish Festival in July, so it is a real honour for us to be
joined today by two brothers from the Kurdish community, Zinar Demeni, who
has lived in Britain for a long time and is helping us with the festival and has
just brought all the 27 Kurdish groups into the Kurdish Solidarity Campaign, but
to address us this afternoon is Berdan Öztürk who is a member of the Turkish
Parliament for the HDP party, many of whose MPs are now languishing in jail,
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