Presidential candidate Demirtaş promises to defend labor rights
Selahattin DemirtaÅ, the presidential candidate of the Peoplesâ Democratic Party (HDP) has vowed to defend labor rights, saying he would not approve any law coming from the Parliament âif it is against the workers.â
âI will look deeply into any law submitted,â DemirtaÅ said, speaking at a public meeting in the town of Darıca in the northwestern province of Kocaeli on July 16.
âOppressed people, the poor, laborers, workers, public workers, tradesmen, villagers, and farmers are found across Turkey,â he said, adding that people from different ethnic roots and beliefs all shared the wish for a free, honorable equal and just future.
âWe want a president who will veto any law made at Parliament that is against the [benefit of] workers, laborers, public workers, or farmers,â he said.
âPeople work âlike slavesâ for 1,200 Turkish Liras in a country where the poverty line for a family with four members is 1,700 liras,â DemirtaÅ also said, adding that workers were âmurderedâ at workplaces every day, highlighting occupational accidents.
DemirtaÅ called on citizens to go to the ballots for the Aug. 10 elections, the first round of the countryâs first ever public-vote presidentials, saying they should vote with âenthusiasm, excitement and pride.â
The HDP co-leader also criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan for exploiting public resources in his presidential campaign.
A third candidate running for the presidency is Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoÄlu, the former head of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (IOC), who was nominated by the main opposition Republican Peopleâs Party (CHP) and the Nationalist...
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