Turkey, Ankara: Report of Funeral of Anarcho-syndicalist Ali Kitapci

greece / turkey / cyprus | anarchist movement | news report Tuesday October 13, 2015 22:52 by Anarchists - via Istanbul Indymedia

We remember Ali Kitapci, the first person to organise for the anarcho-syndicalist cause in modern Turkey. He was one of the 14 members of Independent Transportation Union killed in the Ankara bombing on Saturday. He first get involved with the anarchist movement in England and continued to be active for the last 30 years. Apart from his fight for syndicalism, he was an active member of many anarchist organisations in Ankara from the second half of 1980s. [Italiano]

Turkey, Ankara: Report of Funeral of Anarcho-syndicalist Ali Kitapci

The Peace Meeting, organised by nationwide unions (DİSK, KESK, TMMOB and TTB) [Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey, Confederation of Public Employees' Trade Unions, Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects and Turkish Doctor’s Union] was cancelled due to a bomb attack. The meeting was planned to take place in Ankara on 10 October 2015 with nationwide attendance. The two successive blasts killed 128 people and injured more than 500 people. This horrific event, which resulted as the greatest number of human loss in a single incident in the history of Turkey, occurred just one day before the expected date of declaration of ceasefire by the PKK/KCK.

Ali Kitapci (1958-2015) was one of the 14 members of BTS-KESK [Independent Transportation Union] who were killed in the blast. He first get involved with the anarchist movement in England and continued to be active for the last 30 years. Apart from his fight for syndicalism, he was an active member of many anarchist organisations in Ankara since the second half of 1980s, and urged to unite anarchists for a common fight. He was the first person to organise for the anarcho-syndicalist cause in modern Turkey. He was an inspiration for many of his comrades from different ideas and generations.

In the memorial meeting held on 12 October by his union in the Ankara Train Station for the all union members who lost their lives, thousands gathered. Following this meeting, his body was buried in Karsiyaka Cemetery with the participation of his companion and comrade Emel, his son Artun Siyah and his anarchist comrades coming from different places of Turkey. Hundreds of anarchists who attended his funeral promised to continue his fight.

His companion and comrade Emel’s words at the funeral were also expression of the feelings of all other comrades

“Our heart is with him.
Our anger is fuelled by his strength.
We are all here.
We are all here.
It’s just his body which will stay here.
He will be with us forever.
He will be our light and illumination forever.”

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The following text was written by anarchists (Ali’s comrades):

For Ali Kitapci..
It's raining. On all our memories with Ali...
It's raining. Yet yesterday the killers have washed away the blood on the street long ago.
It's raining.
All those drinks we had together, all those actions we went, all those slogans we shouted, all that gas we breathed. Ali's asthma crisis..
It's raining.
State attacks.
It's raining so badly.
All the comrades, we are together just like we did 20 years ago.
We are together, just like it happened in 1936!
Ali had given his life to the class struggle, to the trade-union movement.
He was one of those unnamed "heroes" struggling to transform the anarchist movement from a weak breath into a lively alternative of freedom.
Let his memory be our comrade...
We won't forget, we won't forgive!

Statement and text from Istanbul Indymedia
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A BBC report included footage of Ali's funeral. This can be viewed at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34511869 - the coverage of Ali's funeral starts at 2.10 in the video.