ANKARA
The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) denounced the practice of subcontracting labor on Tuesday during his party’s group meeting at the National Assembly.
"Workers must not be employed under the subcontracting system where they know no assurance," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu . "We will change the system. We are fighting to defend your rights. Trust and support us."
Kilicdaroglu called out fellow lawmakers as he explained that subcontracting was also a common practice in all public institutions including the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Subcontracting allows the state to lease government-owned land for exploitation to companies, who then subcontract labor to a third-party.
"Are you going to defend this system that fosters subcontracting?" he asked, adding that the Soma tragedy was a direct result of this system.
The explosion in the Soma mine, in western Turkey, killed 301 people making it the worst mining accident in the country’s history.
More than 30 people were questioned and eight were arrested so far in the investigation concerning the tragedy.
Kilicdaroglu also criticized Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who stated that these kinds of fatalities were part of the job as mining accidents inevitably occurred everywhere around the world.
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