The Culture and Arts Festival organised by Day-Mer, the Turkish-Kurdish Community Solidarity organisation, came to a spectacular close with a festival in London’s Clissold Park.
The festival, which is celebrating its 26th year, saw attendance from a large number of trade unionists, charity and association directors, as well as authors, academics and Day-Mer members.
Thousands of people braved the early morning rain to visit the variety of stands set up of aid charities, NGOs and trade unions, as well as other community organisations. The Day-Mer library, with its rich collection of books in Turkish and Kurdish, was one of the more popular stands on the day.
There were a large number of politicians and community leaders attending, with particular backing from the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Among those present was Jeremy Corbyn, a leadership candidate for Labour Party; Green Party leader Natalie Bennett; Lindsey German, a spokeswoman for the Anti-War Coalition; Zita Holbourne of Black Activists Against Rising Cuts and Paula Mitchell from the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).
Also present as Sue Richards from the Strategic Capability National School of Government; PCS union deputy general secretary Chris Bough and Steve Hedley from the RMT union.
Among the speakers was Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA), who emphasised the struggle of workers and called for support in Thursday’s Tube strike.
