ANKARA (A.A) - Workers of TEKEL (Tobacco and LiquorAdministration) have initiated a legal process that will carry the issueregarding their work status to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).In accordance with an assessment carried out by the attorneys of Turkey'svocational organizations Turk-Is, DISK, Kamu-Sen and KESK, TEKEL workers havedecided to take new legal actions in addition to the lawsuits filed before theCouncil of State regarding their work conditions.Within this framework, workers submitted a petition to Turkey'sPrivatization Authority, demanding to be transferred to other public institutionspreserving their actual work status, just like the civil servants and otherpersonnel working at TEKEL.In case of rejection of their demand and running out of domestic legaltools, workers will carry the issue to ECHR, sources said.Workers from the privatized TEKEL factories have been displaying a protestin capital Ankara for more than two months in an effort to secure a transfer toother public institutions along with their employee rights.The government offered to reemploy TEKEL workers under 4-C contract, whichmeans a partial loss of rights for the workers, the initial cause of theprotests.(DO-UK)