The Covid-19 epidemic increased the pressure on labor unions. Members of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) were not allowed to enter Taksim Square on May Day and executives of the confederation were taken under custody. DİSK/Textile Gaziantep Region Representative Mehmet Türkmen was taken under custody after he became a target in the local media following his social media posts on conditions under which workers are forced to work at the factories during the pandemic. He was released upon giving a statement at the prosecutor’s office. Türkmen's duty at DİSK was terminated in 2021 without any explanation. Turkmen, who founded the United Textile Weaving and Leather Workers' Union (BIRTEK-SEN), continues to defend workers' rights in Gaziantep.
DİSK/Textile Gaziantep Region Representative Mehmet Türkmen works as a carpet weaver. He started working as an apprentice at carpet workshops the age of nine in Ünaldı Industrial Zone of Antep.
In 15 years of his working life, he became acquainted with the unionist movement at an early age. He assumed an active role in many resistance, strike and unionization actions in Antep in the past 25 years.
Türkmen served as an organizer for the DİSK Textile Union during 2010, then for the Gaziantep Branch of the Petrol-İş Union between the years 2011-2013. Since September 2019, he has been serving as the DİSK/Textile Gaziantep Region Representative, representing textile factory workers in the provinces of Antep, Urfa, Maraş, Adıyaman and Malatya.
There are two lawsuits brought against Türkmen following his social media posts, one pending and another one he acquitted from. In 2016, he criticized the state’s attitude towards Suruç Massacre in a social media post. Following that a lawsuit was launched against him with the accusation that he was “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”. This lawsuit was appended to the 2014 lawsuit against him following social media content he shared on Kobane. The aforementioned trial is ongoing at Gaziantep 8th Assize Court. Mehmet Türkmen was taken under custody on January 23, 2018 and detained under another lawsuit following his critique of government’s decision to pursue military operations in Afrin on his social media.
On December 20, 2018, he acquitted from the trial he faced for the accusation that he was “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”.
The period that led Mehmet Türkmen to be taken under custody on April 3, 2020 started with his social media posts dating to April 1 and 3, through which he announced that some factory workers were being forced to work despite the pandemic. Türkmen was targeted in local media outlets and accused of provocation. The factory mentioned in his social media posts suspended operations for 15 days following the protest of the workers. Türkmen was taken to Gaziantep Provincial Directorate of Security from his home in the night hours of April 3, 2020 following a notification accusing him of “provoking the public to hatred, hostility or degrading”. He gave his statement at the office and was taken to the Prosecutor’s Office the next day. After presenting his statement in front of the prosecutor, he was released without a referral to the court. Following Mehmet Türkmen’s statements, approximately 10 factories in the region stopped production lines and offered paid leave to their workers.
DİSK Tekstil management dismissed Mehmet Türkmen on 11 November 2021. In his social media post on November 18, 2021, Türkmen said, "I have been dismissed as of November 11. A message has also been sent to Uğur Tekstil workers today. They even informed the SGK and the Governor's Office days before. And there is no document. At least, don't make it so secret. I'm being dismissed from my job in the union, where I've been working as a regional representative for two years and contributing to overcoming the threshold by making more than a thousand members during this time, but I'm condescending while I'm doing this and no explanation is given to me. Shame on you" said. Nesin Publishing House presented the "Aziz Nesinlik Olay" (Incident that fits perfectly with Aziz Nesin's stories) award to Mehmet Türkmen on 23 December 2021. In the statement of Nesin Publishing House, it was said, “This year, we are giving our award to Mehmet Türkmen, the subject of a tragic event that is similar to Aziz Nesin's 'Great Strike' story.”
Mehmet Türkmen, who was dismissed from DİSK Tekstil, founded the United Textile Weaving and Leather Workers' Union (BIRTEK-SEN) at the beginning of 2022.
He was detained on January 11, 2022 due to the complaint of Uğur Tekstil management, and was released the same day after his statement taken.
On February 7, 2022, Mehmet Türkmen, was threatened on the phone by someone who introduced himself as Ahmet Şireci's nephew after visiting the workers in the Şireci Tekstil factory in Gaziantep Başpınar Organized Industrial Zone. After the threat on the phone, two people began to wait in a car in front of the union. Upon the complaint, these people were taken into custody. Although a knife was found on them, they were released after their statements were taken. BIRTEK-SEN filed a criminal complaint against the boss of Şireci Tekstil, Ahmet Şireci, after the incident. The application of the United Textile Weaving and Leather Workers' Union (BIRTEK-SEN) to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security for its establishment was accepted on February 10, 2022.
Mehmet Türkmen, who criticized the employers forcing the workers to work and the removal of tents in the city center after the earthquake that occurred in Defne district of Hatay on February 20, 2023, was summoned to give a statement to the Security Branch Directorate, claimed that he publicly disseminated false information with the motive of creating anxiety, fear or panic among the public.
In Gaziantep OIZ, 2,000 Şireci workers in three factories wanted to walk from Başpınar to the city center on August 12, 2023, against the imposition of low raises by the bosses. While the workers were trying to be prevented by the police, Mehmet Türkmen was detained upon the complaint of Şireci's boss. The detained Turkmen was released after his statement and than he filed a complaint against boss Ahmet Şireci for "preventing union work and deprivation of the constitutional right to demonstrate and march."
In November 2023, 450 workers at the Özak Textile factory operating in Urfa resigned from the union they were affiliated with and joined the United Textile Weaving and Leather Workers Union (BIRTEK-SEN). Thereupon, the factory management dismissed seven employees. Other workers, reacting to their friend's dismissal due to union change, went on strike on November 27. On the 10th (6 December) and 15th day (11 December) of the protest, there was an intervention against workers who wanted to go to the front of the factory. Gendarmerie detained 22 people, including Mehmet Türkmen, on 6 December and 92 people on 11 December.
Turkmen was referred to the court by the prosecutor's office with a request for arrest. Three union managers and four Özak Tekstil workers, who were detained with Türkmen on December 11, were released on the evening of December 13, on condition of judicial control.
