Turkish police attack neighbourhood
Several thousand Turkish cops, including anti-riot police and special units with face masks and assault-style weapons, swept the predominantly leftist and Kurdish Gazi neighbourhood in Istanbul on March 12. Three hundred and fifty people were detained as they attempted to commemorate a 1995 police attack.
Despite police intimidation, 200 people walked through the neighbourhood chanting "Down with the police state!" and "Justice for Gazi's martyrs!". Twenty-one people were killed during four days of rioting in March 1995, when police clashed with thousands of people protesting against a murder by a suspected government hit squad.
The latest demonstration came 10 days after 18 police were acquitted and two were convicted of murder for shooting into the crowd. The convicted police, who had served 20 months pending trial, were freed.
Nigerians seize Shell facility
Two hundred youths seized oil giant Shell's Utorongu natural gas plant near the town of Warri in Nigeria's Niger Delta on March 13. They are demanding that Shell improve a local road.
Local communities oppose the exploitation and neglect of the region by multinational oil companies and successive Nigerian governments. A Shell spokesperson claimed that 30 members of staff and four soldiers have been taken hostage.
Philippines police attack again
On March 9, several members of the Philippines National Police and several dozen security guards attacked a picket line at the Royal Foods factory in Manila. Several workers, including a pregnant woman, were injured.
This was the third attempt in a week to bust the picket. Some 200 workers, mainly young women, have been on strike for six months against illegal dismissals and unfair labour practices at the company.
International solidarity is urgently needed. Please send support messages to <sonnym@csi.com.ph> addressed to: Royal Food Strike Committee, c/o the Socialist Party of Labor, Philippines.
Indian workers reject neo-liberalism
India's National Platform of Mass Organisations, a coalition of worker, peasant, agricultural worker and other grassroots organisations, held a militant rally and march on March 9 in Delhi. The protesters were rejecting the neo-liberal policies of the central government led by the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The more than 10,000 demonstrators resolved to carry on their resistance with an all-India general strike on May 11.
Meanwhile, a coalition of nine left parties held a convention on March 5 to plan protest actions against US President Bill Clinton during his late March visit to India. Many smaller scale "warming up" protests have already taken place and will culminate in a large demonstration on March 24.