The trade unions during the February 28 period

TRADE UNIONS DURING THE FEBRUARY 28 PERIOD Zengin, Ülkü Nur Msc., Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Şükrü Karatepe February 2016, 138 pages The February 28 coup, was recorded in the political history of Turkey as a "post-modern military coup". This feature of the February 28 has to do with differences in its conduct, as compared to the previous military coups. In contrast to the usual conduct of the coups, the February 28 coup was carried out while the military remained at the barracks, without use of weapons and without taking ower the political power. Instead, various societal actors that are called as "unarmed forces" were mobilized to exert pressure over the government which was ultimately forced to quit. In this thesis, the discourse and activities of the trade unions were studied during the process when the February 28 coup took place. Particularly, attitudes and activities of the worker and employer trade unions which were included in the social bloc, called as the 'Gang of the Five' were analyzed within the framework of relationships between trade unions and politics. Türk-İş and DİSK were taken as examples of worker trade unions, while TİSK was choosen as the representative of employer associations. In the thesis, it is concluded that, support provided by the trade unions, existence of which depends on a functioning democracy, to the anti-democratic process of the February 28 is a paradox. At this period, trade unions behaved ideologically and in contrast to their raison d'etre which is defending and promoting rights of their members. . Keywords: February 28, trade unions, 'Gang of the five', TÜRK-İŞ, DİSK, TİSK, TESK, TOBB