PAME expresses its deep sorrow and condolences to the families and colleagues of the 41 miners murdered in the Amasra mines in Bartin, Turkey.

41 of our brothers, our colleagues did not return to their families because of the employers’ unedning pursuit of profit. After the dead of Soma, whose families are still waiting for justice, comes another massacre of workers.

Complaints by the Turkish trade unions that the agencies had warned of the dangers in this mine as well prove that the new employer crime in Amasra could have been prevented. At the same time it highlights the need for workers to organise and collectively demand that their lives be protected by health and safety measures at work.

This slogan should be everywhere

PAME stands by the side of the working class of Turkey who are mourning their children. Your pain is our pain. Your struggle is our struggle to make the words of the poet come true.

You will be ashes, old world.

And you can’t bend us

by killing our brothers in arms…

And know this

We will come out victorious

Though our sacrifices be heavy

(Nazim Hikmet, To 15 Comrades)