"We do not want AKP" demonstration was organized by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), Patriotic Front Against Imperialism, Association of University Councils (ÜKD), Patriotic Front Workers’ Union, Peace Association and Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center – Art Front, on Sunday, 2 March 2008 in İstanbul. The participants at the demonstration were carrying various and creative banners and placards expressing why they do not want AKP. Some of the slogans written on the banners were: "No Pasaran to Reactionarism", “We want an independent Turkey, we do not want AKP”, “We want 8 hours work day, we do not want AKP”, “Long live the union of workers”, “We do not want reactionary, capitalist AKP”, “Turban covers exploitation”.
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The president of TKP Aydemir Güler, the general secretary of the Party Kemal Okuyan, the president of AUC Professor İzge Günal and Patriotic Front Workers’ Union Executive Committee member Kaya Güvenç were the speakers of the demonstration. Actor Metin Coşkun red a poem of Nazım Hikmet and musicians Ufuk Karakoç and Nejat Yavaşoğulları gave short concerts.

First speaker of the demonstration was the president of TKP Aydemir Güler. Güler said “We know that Turkey does not solely consist of us, but we also have to know who are against us. We will not come together with those who are the enemies of our country, who sell our country. We will not embrace them, we will struggle against them. The union of workers, intellectuals, working women, Kurds and Turks will overcome the capital and its representatives.

Güler also has pointed out that turban is not an issue of liberty. He said that “We need a great onset of enlightenment. Reactionarism can not be separated from the dictatorship of the capital. One cannot struggle against reactionarism without also struggling against the dictatorship of the capital. Turkey is the most powerful country of the Middle East. What USA expects in the Middle East is obvious: an Islamist Turkey. One can not struggle against reactionarism wihout putting an end to the existence of USA and its bases in the country and without getting out of NATO.

Aydemir Güler reminded that since its beginning, they declared that they were against the cross-border operation. He continued: “This operation will solve neither the security problem nor the Kurdish issue of Turkey. What they call the security problem of Turkey is the bombs that explode, the intellectuals assassinated, the actions organized by USA in order to manage Turkey. The past few years widened the gap between Kurds and Turks and the last operation contributed to this separation".

Güler added that the question “how the Kurdish issue will be solved?” should be asked to Turkish and Kurdish workers and finished his speech by saying that: “We have enough of this question being asked to USA and EU. It should be asked to us, the Turkish and Kurdish workers from Diyarbakır, Edirne, Van, Manisa, the Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals and we will decide. The destiny of Turks and Kurds is common. If the union is not procured, an islamist-fascist state will be established at the west of Turkey. And another islamist-fascist state will emerge at the East. Both will be pawns of USA. The peoples shall come together. We shall struggle together against imperialism. The only thing that will unite Turks and Turks is their proletarian identity.”

Kemal Okuyan, the general secretary of TKP announced exciting news in his speech at the demonstration. Okuyan expressed the need for a new daily newspaper to be the voice of the workers at the factories, at the districts, at the schools and at the villages and asked the crowd “Are you ready to support this newspaper?”

Okuyan said “We are not the only ones in this country who feel indisposed about AKP. We say that they are eliminating the republic. We say that they are exterminating the country. And there are others who believe in this, they are millions of people” and continued “We prepared this meeting by saying that we are against pro-Americanism, reactionism, capitalism. We can not separate these three away. Some want persistently to separate these and hope help from USA. Some complain of AKP to the USA. That is to say they claim that they can establish laicism in Turkey with NATO, with gladio, with gangs. For years, reaction walked together with NATO, gladio and Islam synthesis. The same thing happens again.”

He added that “Not everybody has to be a communist or a socialist. But we have to admit a truth: It is not possible to ask for the independance, laicism of Tukey, religion to be excluded from the sphere of politics, the national sovereignty and unity without asking this system to be changed.

Okuyan pointed out the fact that not a single representative of the workers exist in the parliament and continued "This means that the politics is dominated by the bosses, by the rich. The whole family of our cabinet deals with commerce and politics. The children of the president of the republic and of the prime minister are businessmen. Workers are marginalized from politics. Those who govern the country know only how to make commerce. They know only how to sell the country". He said “What we have to do is to encourage the parts of the society who did not raise their voices up to today in the sphere of politics to elevate their voices. Do not be afraid of organized struggle, be afraid of not to get organized. Do not be not afraid of making politics, be afraid of being deprived of politics. Politics shall be made by honest people, by the working people.”

The president of Association of University Councils Professor İzge Günal spoke on behalf of the 7532 academics who signed the petition “No Pasaran to Reactionarism”.

Günal said that if religious faith does not have a place in the university, then no parliament has the authority to take a decision such as "turban can enter in the university" and finished his speech by declaring that “as long as we are at the university we will not let reactionarism dominate”.

Kaya Güvenç, Patriotic Front Workers’ Union Executive Committee member was the third speaker of the demonstration. Güvenç pointed out the fact that as the consequence of the privatizations accomplished by AKP government, more that 70 thousands workers have lost their jobs and that this number exceeds hundreds of thousands if we add those who are force to get retired.

Güven finished his speech by the following words “We will continue to struggle against AKP by emphasizing those three points together: no pasaran to reactionarism, to pro-Americanism and to capitalism”.

* AKP: the governing party, Party of Justice and Development