US embassy cable - 02ISTANBUL2101

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 002101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: Istanbul Anti-War Protest 
 
 
1. (U) Around 5,000 people in Istanbul protested against a 
possible U.S.-led operation against Iraq on Sunday.  The 
anti-war demonstration was organized with the participation 
of more than 170 NGOs, including the country's three big 
unions: Turk-Is (the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions), 
the Confederation of Revolutionary Labor Unions (DISK) and 
the Confederation of Public Sector Labor Unions (KESK). 
Other participating organizations included the Chamber of 
Engineers and Architects, the Union of Turkish Doctors, 
Greenpeace, some political parties and several Islamist 
groups. 
 
 
2. (U) The protest started around 11.00 a.m. in Abide-I 
Hurriyet Square in Istanbul's downtown Sisli District under 
tight police control. During the meeting, the union leaders 
made speeches and the crowd chanted anti-US and anti-war 
slogans including "No to Imperialist War," and "We Will Not 
Be American Soldiers." The speakers included a British 
Member of Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn from the Labor Party. 
The crowd dispersed after a few hours and there was no 
violence during the demonstration. 
 
 
3. (SBU) Comment: Police contacts confirmed to us that 5,000 
people participated in the demonstration, but noted that 
they had anticipated a crowd twice that size.  End comment. 
ARNETT