On March 16, hundreds took to the streets in Istanbul, Turkey, to protest the opening of the fifth annual World Water Forum. The World Water Council, the forum’s main organizer, is principally financed by two of the world’s largest private water corporations, Suez and Veolia.
Unions, environmental organizations and other activists called the protests to expose the World Water Forum’s support for the privatization of water. Police responded with brutality and arrests.
The WWC and previous forums have promoted the private ownership and management of water resources and services. Loic Fauchon, president of the WWC, blamed humanity in general for the crisis while supporting wasteful and exploitative capitalist policies.
Under capitalism, water is considered a commodity to be bought and sold for profit. This commodification perpetuates inaccessibility and creates false scarcity, denying billions of people the right to potable water.
