In Antep, the home of BİRTEK-SEN Chair Mehmet Türkmen was raided by the gendarmerie. Türkmen was detained on the allegation of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" due to a speech he delivered during a protest by Sırma Halı workers who had taken action for their rights.

The gendarmerie raided Mehmet Türkmen’s home in Antep, confiscated his electronic devices, and took him into custody. Sırma Halı workers, employed by Şireci, had stopped work on 9 March after failing to receive their increased wages for months, with their last month's wages unpaid and regular payments consistently delayed. On 23 March, they held a press statement at Balıklı Square. Following the workers' speeches, Mehmet Türkmen, Chair of the United Textile, Weaving and Leather Workers' Union (BİRTEK-SEN), addressed the crowd. His home was subsequently searched, and he was detained under charges of "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" regarding his statements at the Sırma Halı workers' protest.

'The real crime is employer terror trying to criminalise the workers' struggle for bread'

Labour Party (EMEP) MP Sevda Karaca reacted to Türkmen’s detention: “The employers' clerk-prosecutors are on duty once again. In this country, when employers usurp the workers' sweat, engage in anti-union activities, or throw workers out the door, the state sees no ‘hatred or hostility’ in that. But the moment a union president stands up to defend workers' rights, prosecutors suddenly step in. In other words, they are saying that defending workers' rights is a crime, but the employers' usurpation of those rights is a prerogative! This accusation against Mehmet Türkmen is actually an attempt to suppress the resistance of Sırma Halı workers. Last February, they also arrested the president to crush the resistance in Antep. The real crime is the employer terror that seeks to present the workers' struggle for bread as a crime.”

What did Türkmen say?

In his statement at the Sırma Halı workers' protest, Mehmet Türkmen expressed the following: "Those who govern this country, this city, and the employers who collaborate with them have been boasting of their philanthropy since the start of Ramadan. The rulers of the country pose every day sitting at the floor tables of the poor. We invite them to the tables of the Sırma Halı workers. Those sitting at those tables are the ones who have left the worker in need of dry bread. Workers have not been receiving their wages regularly for months. They are not asking for more; they only want their wages paid on time. In return, they receive threatening messages. If a worker fails to pay a bill for one day, interest is added, but the money paid late to the worker remains the same. Those who make this country exist, who carry it on their backs, are the workers in the factories.

They gather to make their voices heard against injustice, yet they are surrounded by hundreds of police. Why is it that when workers want to make a press statement or march, so many police are lined up in front of them? Set up the barricades against the employers, not the workers. This anger is accumulating. By adding new ones to these injustices every day, you are accumulating anger and rebellion in the hearts of the workers. Don’t do it, you will be crushed under it!” Following these words, he made a call to Sırma Halı employer Hanifi Şireci: “Pay the workers' overtime and wage differences immediately. Stop threatening the workers. Learn to treat workers like human beings.”

He was previously detained and imprisoned on the complaint of employer Şireci

Following the protests against the imposition of low wages in Başpınar in February 2025, the Governorship of Gaziantep declared a ban, after which Türkmen was detained on 14 February and later released. Türkmen was subsequently detained again and imprisoned by the court on charges of "violation of the freedom to work" and "incitement to commit a crime." During his statement at the Gaziantep Police Department, Türkmen was charged with “incitement to commit a crime” and “violation of working and labour life.” He was asked: "What is the purpose of your call in the post dated 9 February 2025 at 00:45: ‘The weather is freezing. 00:40 Şireci is awake! There are those resisting in this weather. Those who warm February, those who light up the night. Şireci workers are calling out to the workers of the Sırma Halı Factory belonging to the employer: Sırma out! Başpınar, do not sleep, claim your bread’?"

Türkmen was held in prison for 36 days and was released on 24 March 2025 under house arrest. The house arrest order against Türkmen was lifted on 17 April.