Over the past few days, there have been important political actions in Istanbul. At the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, the "leading" university in Turkey, protests and lecture boycotts have been taking place for days against the installation of a new rector (Prof. Dr. Melih Bulu), who is known for being notably pro-government and reactionary. The protesting students were met with massive repression:
The police practically raided participants in their home and arrested them for participating in the protest, a total of 14 people from mostly progressive organisations were arrested. In addition, the police blocked the building entrance at the South Campus when students wanted to gather there and give a statement, so that not a single person could get in or out.
Meanwhile, in Kartal district, a union protest against the working and protection conditions and the delayed wage payments took place in front of the factory of a mainly VW supplier company, CPS, openly blaming the German imperialists for the misdeeds. The workers are not provided with any kind of hygienic protection on the spot, as a result of which about half of them got infected with the corona virus. The main responsibility of Volkswagen in this, as well as in other problems that have arisen or increased due to their handling of the economic crisis and, as a consequence, the development of the contradictions with the "sub-" or of their capital-led companies, such as the crumbling infrastructure in the factory, skipping breaks, not being reachable by phone and especially the uncertainty whether VW will not simply let the company down, was denounced.
