The imprisoned former co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, wrote an article for Turkish news Website Diken, calling for the organisation of a Left bloc in order to strengthen the struggle for policies favouring workers.

“Global capitalism is going through one of its internal crisis, triggered by the pandemic,” he started in his article.

“Billions of workers, unemployed people and those living on pensions are suffering profound poverty below even the hunger threshold, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries. Even when a periodical crisis is at its peak, big capital owners are never, or can not ever be forced to compensate for the losses. They’re always ‘the ones to be spared first from the fire’, or they’re actually even the cause of the fire but do not burn themselves. The bill is always payed for by the workers, and if not, it wouldn’t actually be capitalism. Poverty, hunger and desperation are serious issues. The workers are working in basic slavery like conditions. Heavy terms without social security and job security are imposed on workers who can barely earn enough to live on.”

Demirtaş made a call on the political parties and movements of the Left to form an alliance, an electoral bloc to counter the policies favouring big business owners.

“The political parties and movements on the Left have an important historical mission. If a democratic system is to be built after the [fall of] the Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration, the new administration to be established must not be allowed to be deaf to the voice of the Left and the workers. So it’s vital that preparations are immediately made both for a future process of constructing democracy and to strengthen the workers’ struggle.

“All forces of the Left, without any discrimination, can take part and discuss in a conference both how they would carry on a joint struggle until the elections, and on which strategy they would proceed with for the elections. They are obliged to discuss and clarify the roles that they are willing to undertake in the process of constructing democracy after the elections, and how they will make the labour struggle a dominant issue in that new phase, and publicly come forward with a mutual statement and roadmap.

“A strong Left bloc can be built beyond any personal and/or institutional interest. Such a Left bloc can acquire enough power to tip the balances in favour of the workers both at the elections and afterwards. It doesn’t require forming a union in a single party. It’s just required to spend efforts to make the left a part of the political power through means necessary.”