Turkish trade union refuses to attend int’l meet in US

By Ozcan Yildirim</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – A Turkish trade union announced on Thursday that it will not attend an international Washington meeting in March.</p> <p>Ergun Atalay, head of Confederation of Turkish Trade Union, told Anadolu Agency that they refused an invitation by International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for attendance in a future meeting in Washington. </p> <p>Atalay cited the recent IMF [International Monetary Fund] debate in Turkey for the refusal.</p> <p>“We do not want to come side by side with the IMF to underline that we do not want to be exposed the austerity projects again,” he said.</p> <p>The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) claimed Turkey would seek to negotiate with the IMF after the local elections set for March 31.</p> <p>On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rebuffed claims by the opposition that Turkey would seek new IMF loans, saying that era was long gone.</p> <p>Highlighting refutations by Turkish presidential and government officials, Atalay said: “We think the recent statements that Turkey and IMF will make an agreement are not right.”