Following the explosion at the HABAŞ factory in Aliağa, Izmir, where 19 workers lost their lives, members of the Communist Party of Türkiye (TKP) protested in Istanbul.
Walking along Köybaşı Street from Sarıyer Yeniköy coast, TKP Istanbul Provincial Organization members gathered in front of HABAŞ boss Mehmet Rüştü Başaran's mansion located here.
TKP members marched from İstinye Beach to Başaran's mansion in Yeniköy with the slogans "HABAŞ boss will be held accountable", "Don't bow down, hold the murderers to account", "This is the Murderer's Mansion", and carried a banner saying "Murder in the factory, debauchery in the waterside mansion! We will destroy this order".
While the front of Başaran's mansion was blocked by riot police; It was seen that the building number of the mansion was covered with tape.
Speaking at the protest, TKP Central Committee Member Selahattin Kural said, "This is a massacre. This is a massacre of workers, and we have stood in front of the door of the murderer responsible for this massacre of workers," said Kural, adding, "Mehmet Rüştü Başaran. His name is this murderer. He has exploited this country for decades, exploited the workers, and added to its wealth. Now he continues his debauchery in this mansion in front of us. You will murder so many workers, and on top of that, house arrest with a punishment like a reward." "You will get it and you will enjoy it in this mansion," he said.
He continued his explanation of the rules as follows:
"They will be accountable. They will be accountable to the people. This cannot be done by sleeping at home and getting approval from places where they use the law for their own benefit. They will be accountable to the public. They will be accountable to the workers of this country.
HABAŞ boss has a very good record. We know very well. Workers have been massacred in workplaces and companies belonging to HABAŞ before. Many workers died in workplace murders. We know very well the conditions under which workers are currently working in companies belonging to HABAŞ. He humiliates the workers, makes them work long hours for low wages, and makes them mow the lawns of his own mansion, his own factories, and his garden. "He takes the worker working in the bank to work at another workplace."
Kural continued his words with the following statements:
"We know the source of the HABAŞ boss's wealth and fortune. It is not here, only his mansion. The master has another mansion. He has buildings, farms, and a passion for luxury cars in Bodrum. How did this wealth come about? They made the workers of this country work at no cost. Workers lost their lives in workplace murders. While the workers were dying, the gentleman lived his luxurious life abroad in his own mansion. The bosses will commit so many crimes and commit murder and live comfortably." They will continue to do so. We will neither allow nor submit to this.
More than 35 thousand workers have been murdered in their workplaces in this country for 25 years. We say we are at war, right? Yes friends, we are at war. The bosses declared war on the workers of this country. They declared war to increase their own profits. We are against the bosses in this war. The government is behind them, the establishment politicians are behind them, the parliament is behind them. They will massacre all these workers and live in mansions on the Bosphorus. "The working class, the workers of this country, will not allow this."
