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Two Turkish trade unionists have been awarded the Febe Elisabeth Velasquez trade union award 2015 for their exceptional trade union work by the biggest trade union confederation in the Netherlands.

The two trade unionists, Sakine Esen Y?lmaz and Mehmet Bozgeyik, of the Turkish education union, E?itim Sen, which is affiliated to Education International (EI), were nominated by EI member organisation, the Algemene Onderwijsbond(AOb), The Netherlands.

Esen Y?lmaz has been General Secretary of E?itim Sen since May 2014 and is its former Gender Secretary; Bozgeyik is a former General Secretary of the Turkish union.

This prestigious award is named after the Salvadorian trade union activist and Secretary General of the trade union, FENESTRAS, Febe Elizabeth Velasquez, who was 27 when she was killed in 1989 because of her trade union activities. The award was established in 1991 by the Dutch Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging(FNV) to pay tribute to trade union leaders who, while working under very difficult circumstances and taking enormous personal risks, resolutely defend trade union rights in countries where those rights are being violated.

Imprisonment

Both Esen Y?lmaz and Bozgeyik were arrested in the early hours of 25 June 2012, when Turkish police raided and searched offices and houses of trade unionists in around 20 cities in Turkey. In total, 71 trade union members and leaders were detained.

While some of the detainees were released on 29 June 2012, Esen Y?lmaz, Bozgeyik and 26 other trade unionists were detained until several months later, waiting for their trial to start. Out of the 28 unionists who were imprisoned, 15 were members of E?itim Sen. The first hearing took place on 10 April 2013 at the Ankara 13th Heavy Criminal Court, more than nine months after their arrests, under intense scrutiny and in the presence of an EI delegation. Bozgeyik and Esen Yilmaz were released on bail after 289 days of imprisonment.

Targeted

In its nomination form, the AOb noted that, amongst the Turkish trade union movement, E?itim Sen is particularly targeted by the State repression. The AOb added that the teacher union is continuously being harassed by the authorities because of its outspokenness and its engagement in a wide variety of movements and issues that are seen by the government as oppositional (struggles for union rights, public education, social justice, democracy, freedom of speech, women rights, education in mother tongue and a negotiated end to the Kurdish conflict).

In 2012, the European Commission expressed concerns about the Turkish criminal justice system, in particular the limited access to the prosecution’s files, the failure to give detailed grounds for arrest and detention decisions, and the length of pre-trial detention. The Commission deplored the “wide application of the legal framework on terrorism and organised crime, which leads to recurring infringements (of fundamental rights)”.

Work goes on

Despite the continuous harassment, multiple false accusations, and unlawful detentions, Bozgeyik and Esen Y?lmaz have continued to lead their union in the fight for quality public education for all, democracy and trade union rights.

The FNV award – a work of art, plus €5,000 to be used for trade union projects – will be officially handed over to the nominees during a session of the Member’s Congress on 29-30 May. The FNV will invite the award winners to come to the Netherlands and organise some events on trade union rights. If the award winners cannot leave the country, the FNV will organise a trip to Turkey for the President of the Confederation at an appropriate time.

An interview with the E?itim Sen General Secretary Sakine Esen Y?lmaz can be read here