There are about 140.000 public employees dismissed from public services for life through the Emergency Decree Laws issued during the State of Emergency (2016-2018) period. As known, the SoE was declared after the Coup Attempt on July 15, 2016, on the ground that it would target plotters only. On the other hand, there are 4259 members and executives from KESK and its affiliates under the State of Emergency. The problems and violations faced by our members and executives, especially those who have not yet been reinstated, continue.
Emergency decrees are a practice of extraordinary and dark periods
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) declared a State of Emergency and governed the country through emergency decrees following the coup attempt. The Government followed unfair practices in dismissing public employees in those years. Yet, we know that dismissals are essentially a practice of coup period. For example, the September 12 coup plotters issued 669 laws in 1980-1983. In the 2016-2018 State of Emergency period, the political power issued 32 separate decrees.
During the State of Emergency, public authorities restricted fundamental rights and freedoms such as the right to organize, assembly and demonstration, freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, etc. In addition to dismissals, some non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights were closed down with the decrees. The AKP Government, which ruled the country with emergency decrees, even made the regulation requiring winter tyres within this framework.
Issuing Emergency Decree Laws (KHK) resulted in the disabling of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM), whose mandate is to make laws. MPs could not exercise their right to express their opinions and object to regulations that concern the entire society. The emergency decree regime also shelved the principles of the rule of law and legal security, which are the basic guarantees of any democratic society. Another problem with the emergency decrees was providing a protective shield that those implementing these provisions would not face any investigation: impunity. The policy of impunity is a state policy that plays an important role in perpetuating injustice, lawlessness and violations. In this regard, Article 9 of the Decree-Law No. 667 issued on July 23, 2016 states that “Persons who take decisions and carry out tasks within the scope of this Decree-Law shall not be held legally, administratively, financially or criminally liable for these tasks.” By knowing the fact that they will be protected by the policy of impunity, public administrators have unjustly and unlawfully added us, the opposition KESK members, to the list of dismissals by decree.
Data on KESK dismissals
Although the AKP government claims that a State of Emergency was declared against the July 15 coup attempt, the real logic of the State of Emergency was revealed by President Erdoğan’s words “a gift from God” when describing that period. The emergency decrees were implemented in a way to target all opposition segments of society. As a result of this arbitrary policy, 4,259 KESK members were added to the list of those dismissed by emergency decrees issued during the State of Emergency.
As KESK, we have been and continue to be in solidarity with our dismissed colleagues from the very first moment. Despite the passage of more than eight years, 2,512 (59%) of the 4,259 public employees of KESK have still not been reinstated.
Why were KESK members and executives targeted?
– Our legitimate and legal trade union struggle we carry out,
– We demand decent wages and working conditions for all public employees,
– We demand job security,
– Our demand is for everyone to receive free, scientific, secular and quality public services in their mother tongue,
– Our objections to insufficient budget for public services, and corruption in the administration,
– We stand against the subcontracting and privatization of public services such as education, health, transportation, energy, etc,
– We raised our voices against the destruction of nature,
– We say no to the mentality that removes women from working life and keeps them at home,
– Standing against femicides and defending the Istanbul Convention,
– As important as our labour and union struggle are our demands for peace and democracy,
– We demand a peaceful solution to social problems, especially the Kurdish issue,
– In short, we were dismissed from our jobs with emergency decrees because we stood against the one-man rule that the AKP government has been trying to build for 22 years.
None of the dismissed public employees exercised their right to defence under the State of Emergency. Similarly, their right to a fair trial was denied during this period. The constitutionally guaranteed right to defence has been violated. Violation of the right to defence and the right to a fair trial is a clear violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to which we are a party. Fundamental individual rights and freedoms protected by national and international law have been violated by administrative decisions. Although the Constitution protects these rights, the authorities are not abiding by the law.
Similarly, the dismissals are a clear violation of the International Labor Organization’s Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention No. 111, one of the core conventions to which we are party. Similarly, Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, Convention No. 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining. Convention on the Right to Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining have also been violated.
It should also be noted that, like all other practices of the AKP government, the State of Emergency Decree Laws specifically target women. In this context, many women members and executives of KESK were also dismissed.
Some problems that our dismissed members face
Our dismissed members were removed from public services. They have been deprived of rights such as promotion and reassignment that they would have received if they had remained in their offices in the public sector. Some of our members left their cities of residence and returned to their families. In addition, their constitutional right to freedom of movement was restricted as their passports were taken away from them for a long period.
Moreover, members and their dependent family members, whose social security rights were taken away, were prevented from benefiting from necessary health services. Their pension rights have been taken away. These issues have become particularly pronounced during COVID-19 and extraordinary disaster periods such as earthquakes, floods, etc.
On the other hand, not only our dismissed members but also their family members continue to be punished. The children of those dismissed take the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) to get a job in the public sector. However, even if they pass the KPSS exams and are successful in the said exam, they cannot pass oral exams and interviews held after these exams for their parents were labelled and categorised as dismissed public employees. Those who pass these exams also face the obstacle of a “security investigation – archive research” before they are appointed.
The impact of dismissals by emergency decrees on the quality of public services
All these oppressive policies and practices have had negative and destructive effects on the quality of public service. KESK defends a model of public service that is free, accessible for all and in the mother tongue.
Our members and executives were dismissed because they were seen as an obstacle to the corruption and misuse of public resources allocated to some people, which amounted to nepotism, and the administration of the public sector in the way the AKP wants. It is known that after the dismissal of qualified and experienced public servants, the new public servants appointed to replace them are chosen based on their loyalty to the authorities, the AKP, rather than their competence.
State of Emergency Inquiry Commission period (2017-2023)
Approximately six months after the declaration of the State of Emergency, a commission called the ‘State of Emergency Inquiry Commission’ was established by Decree Law No. 685 published in the Official Gazette dated January 23, 2017. The Commission started receiving applications after the publication of the communiqué on “Procedures and Principles Regarding the Operation of the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission” in the Official Gazette dated July 12, 2017, numbered 30122, i.e. exactly seven months after its establishment. The two-year term of office of the commission was extended by the President’s decree for one more year.
At this point, it should be underlined that the establishment of the State of Emergency Commission was upon the recommendation of the Council of Europe. The main issue here was the delay in taking the dismissal files to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Unfortunately, the Council of Europe and its judicial body, the ECtHR, accepted the AKP’s delay policy. We continue to raise this attitude of the ECtHR and the Council of Europe on the boards of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), of which we are members.
With its authority to decide on the reinstatement of those dismissed, the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission, essentially an administrative body, is equipped with the power of judicial review. Thus, the commission, which does not have a definition in terms of the domestic legal system and is not a judicial authority defined by the legislation, was enabled to make decisions as a judicial body. The Commission was not impartial and independent because six of its seven members were directly appointed by the government.
The State of Emergency Commission did not take into account the decisions and rulings of the courts. The Commission acted in a highly arbitrary manner in carrying out its activities. For example, our members who signed the peace petition titled “We will not be a party to this crime” on January 11, 2016, won their case before the Constitutional Court on July 26, 2019. The Constitutional Court decision clearly emphasized that these academics cannot be questioned or punished for signing the petition. However, the dismissed Peace Academics have still not been reinstated.
The Commission’s term of office expired on January 22, 2023. The State of Emergency Inquiry Commission received 127,292 applications during its mandate. The Commission rejected 109,332 of these applications, 84% of them, and accepted only 17,960, 14% of them. Accordingly, it reinstated only 1,433 out of 4,259 dismissed members of KESK members and leaders.
Administrative Court Phase
Those whose applications were rejected by the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission first appealed to nine Ankara administrative court branches specially authorized by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK). As of May 2024, 1,747 (41%) out of a total of 4,259 dismissed members of KESK-affiliated unions who were dismissed from their jobs by State of Emergency Decree Laws, 1,433 were reinstated by the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission, 276 by the Special Authorized Administrative Courts, 37 by the Courts of Appeal and 1 by the Council of State. Despite the passage of more than 8 years, 2,512 KESK members who were denied their rights continue to seek justice.
In conclusion, as KESK, we will continue to be the voice of our members with emergency decrees. We will continue to work with institutions such as the Turkish Parliament, ministries, political parties, etc. to ensure that our members with emergency decrees can return to their jobs as soon as possible. Similarly, we will continue to keep the situation of our members with emergency decrees on the agenda of the international trade union movement. We will repeatedly convey this to all the international trade unions we are struggling with, especially the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), of which we are a member. We will also continue to submit our reports to relevant international institutions such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Council of Europe, etc. and convey our demands for solutions.
Thus, we would like to repeat that KESK members were unjustly dismissed from their offices. There was no due process under the State of Emergency. These members must be reinstated with no further delay.