LONDON’S longest running Turkish speaking culture and arts festival kicked off on Wednesday evening, bringing trade unions together with migrant communities.

Day-Mer Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre’s month-long festival, which is the oldest in the borough of Hackney, is back in person for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the event at Clissold Park on July 3, which will feature artists from Turkey and local groups made up of migrant performers, plus speakers from the TUC, National Education Union, Unite, Labour and Black Lives Matter.

A Day-Mer spokesperson said: “The pandemic has been used as an opportunity by government and capitalists to line their own pockets and deepen the cost-of-living crisis, increase unemployment and further deteriorate working conditions.

“The Tory government, which chooses not to invest in our public services, prefers a policy of warmongering with its US ally.

“And the disdain this government has towards migrants is evident in Priti Patel’s racist policy of deporting refugees to Rwanda.

“All these conditions make it even more important that people of all backgrounds actively organise.

“This is the foundation on which our festival is built and will grow.”