25.02.2026 20:41
During President Erdoğan's speech at Beştepe, interesting moments occurred as he met with workers. While Erdoğan mentioned that he started his working life at IETT, one person in the audience stood up and opened the uniform worn by IETT employees. Erdoğan pointed to the uniform and said, "They are showing me the IETT uniform from there."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Emek Sofrası Meetings at the Beştepe National Exhibition Hall. Erdoğan, who broke fast with workers and laborers, later delivered important messages from the podium.
Interesting moments occurred during Erdoğan's speech. The President, who stated that he started his working life at İETT, caught the attention of a person among the audience. Suddenly, a person stood up and raised the İETT uniform in his hand to show it to President Erdoğan. Erdoğan responded, "They are showing me the İETT uniform from there."
Highlights from President Erdoğan's speech are as follows:
"As members of a religion that sees labor as sacred and commands that the rights of my valuable brothers be paid without the sweat on their foreheads drying since 2002, we have strived to build a fair and peaceful working climate. Our goal has been to establish a system where the rights of everyone, including workers, employers, and public officials, are protected, and where industrial peace is maintained at the most ideal level.
"WE DID NOT TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE VIOLATION OF OUR WORKER BROTHERS' RIGHTS"
We did not engage in capital hostility, nor did we turn a blind eye to the violation of the rights of our worker brothers who earn their livelihood through hard work. We have worked to improve the conditions of our workers, civil servants, and unions with balanced, prudent, and rational policies, and to enhance their standards of living.
"WE GRANTED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS TO OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS"
We took revolutionary steps. I would like to briefly share our reforms with you. May 1 has been one of the most debated issues for years. By declaring May 1 as Labor and Solidarity Day, we put an end to unnecessary discussions. We enacted the occupational health and safety law. We facilitated the establishment conditions for unions. We strengthened union protections and the right to strike.
We granted collective bargaining rights to our public officials. We reinstated the collective bargaining decree that the main opposition party took to the constitutional court and had annulled. We secured the rights and freedoms of our women.
"THEY ATTACK CHILDREN'S ENJOYMENT OF RAMADAN WITH UGLY AND VILE EXPRESSIONS"
Our public employees can now fully and effectively benefit from rights such as Friday leave and pilgrimage leave. We see that these regulations aimed at our people, who have been oppressed for years and whose rights have been disregarded, disturb certain circles in our country significantly. The freedom of religion and conscience, and the ability to live one's faith freely in the public sphere somehow touches them and drives them almost insane. In a country that has been shaped by the blood of martyrs and has raised the banner of the word of God for a thousand years, they attack the ability of workers, civil servants, and university students to attend Friday prayers and children's enjoyment of Ramadan with ugly and vile expressions.
We laugh off the delusions of this group, which has no other duty than to act as a trigger for coup plotters since May 27, hiding cowardly behind the concept of secularism while attacking the faith values of the nation. No matter what declaration they publish, we are focused on developing the rights and freedoms of society, and we will continue to act with the same sensitivity in the future."