The June 15-16 events (Turkish: 15-16 Haziran olayları) of 1970 began in Istanbul and soon became one of the largest actions of organised labor in Turkey's history.
[1] In 1970, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Senate passed a bill amending two paces of legislation, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Strike and Lockout Law No.
DISK and its affiliated unions responded angrily to the new law and the Workers' Party of Turkey announced that it would take the controversial amendments to the Constitutional Court and filed a lawsuit to have them annulled.
[2] The response of trade unionists and leaders of DİSK entered a new phase on the morning of June 15, 1970, when they marched towards the main centers of Istanbul.
The march, which started on the Anatolian side of the city, was followed by the workers from Kartal district along the E-5 Ankara highway, while others joined them from other factories.
After the 1971 and 1980 military coups, Kemal Türkler and other DİSK executives were tried for provoking the public and spreading separatist propaganda; they were acquitted in both cases.
[4] After the events, CHP General Secretary Bülent Ecevit, together with Chairman İsmet İnönü, also sought to have the new law annulled in the Constitutional Court, separately from The Workers’ Party.