Turkey Fails To Learn Its Lesson From Repeated Job Casualties

A total of 15 agricultural workers, most of them women, were killed in a traffic accident in Turkey's western province of Manisa on Monday and 19 more were injured in an accident in Karaman province, with the government being accused of responsibility due to its implementation of neoliberal policies that pave the way for such accidents.

The incident took place near a village in the district of Gölmarmara when a pickup truck carrying a group of agricultural workers crashed into a tanker carrying milk. At least 15 people in the vehicle died at the scene, while two were injured and taken to a hospital. A number of ambulances and funeral vehicles were dispatched to the neighborhood. The driver of the tanker survived the accident.

The workers were reportedly on their way to a vineyard to pick leaves. According to some of the media reports, the accident was caused by the tanker exceeding the boundaries of its lane. The gendarmerie has launched an investigation into the incident. The media has also reported that the driver of the tanker, E.İ., was injured in the accident and was taken to a hospital for treatment. E.İ. was reportedly detained after his medical treatment.

Those who were killed in the accident were laid to rest after a funeral ceremony held in the village of Çökelek in Salihli district on Monday afternoon. The victims were buried in 15 graves dug side by side at the village cemetery.

Manisa Governor Erdoğan Bektaş released a written statement on Monday to share details about the fatal accident, saying that 13 of those killed were from the same village. The governor said that the accident is believed to have been caused by the tanker driver falling asleep while driving. Saying that the road where the accident took place is large and smooth, Bektaş said that infrastructural problems were not at fault for the accident.

Offering his condolences for the relatives of those killed workers, the governor said, “This is a very saddening incident.”
However, speaking to the press on Monday, Gölmarmara Mayor Kamil Öz said that the road has been the scene of many traffic accidents in the last few years. He also said that expansion project for the road in question is under way, but that it is still unfinished.
“Approximately 10,000 vehicles travel on this road daily. We have been warning the authorities for years that the project should have been completed by now,” said Öz, adding that those killed in the accident were agricultural workers who work from the early morning until the evening in return for just TL 40 or TL 50 per day.

British Ambassador to Turkey Richard Moore offered his condolences for those killed in the accident in a Tweet posted on Monday, saying that he was saddened to hear about the loss of life.

Posting a tweet about the accident on Monday, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu criticized the authorities for not taking the necessary traffic security precautions to prevent such accidents from taking place. Tanrıkulu wrote: “Agricultural workers in Manisa were being transported in a truck without any safety precautions. Fifteen were killed. Is human life so cheap?” CHP parliamentary group chairman Özgür Özel and CHP Deputy Chairman Yakup Akkaya went to Manisa on Monday to conduct first-hand examinations at the scene.

The İstanbul Worker Health and Safety Council (İSİG) also released a written statement about the accident on Monday, revealing that the number of agricultural workers killed in 2015 has increased to 190 with the fatal accident in Manisa. Blaming the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for such a high number of deaths, the statement reads: “Those who are responsible for the accident are Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker, Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik and the AK Party's policies.”
“The agricultural sector has been destroyed by the implementation of neo-liberal policies. Villagers who have lost their properties and become poorer have become a cheap source of labor in the sector. We have been telling the authorities that traffic accidents or murders is a worker and public health problem. However, the government's approach is prone to cover up such accidents. Yes, the massacre [accident in Manisa] is not just a traffic accident but the murder of service-based workers.”

The İSİG also emphasized that the state must take the necessary security precautions to provide agricultural workers with safe transport and conduct inspections to ensure that agricultural workers are transported in vehicles suitable for human transportation, rather than trucks.
19 workers injured in Karaman

In a related incident, 19 more workers were injured in another traffic accident that took place in Karaman province on Monday. The accident took place when a minibus carrying the workers rolled off the road on the Karaman-Ereğli Highway. According to media reports, the vehicle was carrying workers from Bozkır district in Karaman province to a biscuit factory located in the Karaman Organized Industrial Zone. The injured workers were rushed to the nearby hospitals in Karaman. The condition of one injured worker, Fatma Işık, was reported to be critical by the hospital. Police have launched an investigation into the accident.
Job-related accidents claimed the lives of 794 workers in the first half of 2015, a clear sign that Turkey has failed to learn its lesson from a number of deadly workplace disasters that shook the country just last year. İSİG referred to the deaths as “workplace murders” in a report released on Friday to draw attention to widespread negligence by employers.
İSİG stated that the latest data on workplace deaths for this year reveal a victim toll of 128 in January, 85 in February, 139 in March, 133 in April, 162 in May and 147 in June.
Military vehicle overturned in Şanlıurfa, one soldier dies

An armored military vehicle turned over in the Akçakale district of Şanlıurfa province on Monday, causing the death of one soldier. Three soldiers were injured in the accident. They were rushed to Akçakale Public Hospital but one of the soldiers, Faik Yüce, died at the hospital.
In yet another traffic accident that took place on Monday, two people died in the central province of Yozgat. The accident took place on the Yozgat-Sivas Highway near the Sorgun district of Yozgat in the morning. (Cihan/Today’s Zaman)