The Contribution of Communist Party, Turkey at the 17thIMCWP

Dear comrades,

I would like to welcome you all again on behalf of my party. We know that the parties attending this meeting have been part of the remarkable class struggle ignited by the October Revolution and that they have been carrying the banner of freedom and equality despite all the heavy prices they paid. We are honoured to host you all here.

Deeply influenced by the October Revolution, our party was founded in 1920. It's first central committee members, who were on their way to join the national liberation war, were massacred in the Black Sea in 1921. It is very important for all of us that the communists of Turkey are hosting you 94 years after this massacre.

Comrades,

A large number of topics about the deepening crisis of capitalism, the risk of a possible war due to the tensions between different blocks and the roles of communist parties under such circumstances are already stated. To avoid repetition, I would like to talk about revolutionary duties in the region Turkey is located.

First of all, I shall share a lesser known fact. In the last two decades, our party has been accused of being a nationalist party by liberal and some leftist circles in Turkey.

On the contrary, since the beginning of the 1990s, the Communist Party of Turkey has never sought cooperation with any section and organizaist revolutiontion of the bourgeoisie. It pursued its struggle by arguing for the actuality of a socia

In addition to this, our party stood firmly against the US and EU interventions in our region that change territories. Our party argued that all imperialist integration attempts, particularly the EU project, are interventions that delay socialist revolution. Therefore, we objected to such integration attempts. An essential item of our political program argued that Turkey should drop out of NATO and we pursued a noteworthy struggle for this.

Our party also indicated that the emancipation and equality of the Kurdish people can only be guaranteed under the banner of socialism.

We have never given up these political principles. There has been some changes in the political condition of our region during the last years. These changes necessitate different political reflexes and a much firmer internationalism among the communist parties of the region.

The southern borders of Turkey have undergone erosion as a result of two developments. One of them was about the integration of Turkey into the imperialist conspiracy against Syria under the governorship of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The borders of Turkey with Iraq and especially with Syria was opened for the bilateral safe passage of jihadist militants. Eventually, the problem of Syria has become a problem of Turkey. The problem of refugees is now a common problem of the people of the region. The number of jihadist terrorists in Turkey has increased and they are being used as stooges in political demonstrations.

Another issue that influences the borders is about the cooperation of the Kurdish national movements within Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey following the occupation of Iran and the conspiracy against Syria.

Similar border breaches are surely happening in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.

As a result of these facts, we believe that the communist parties in the region should tighten their collaboration and develop a much more closer contact for the struggle against imperialism and the triumph of the working class.

Another necessity for internationalist solidarity in our region arises out of the situation in the Balkans and the Caucasus. There is yet another type of erosion of national borders in this region. Both international monopolies and the capitalist classes in this region are making offshore investments. The movement of capital and labour force dissipates the existence of borders. Such interventions are politically consolidated by NATO and EU. Almost all of the region is replete with NATO bases and thus the people and the working classes of these countries will be dragged into a catastrophe in case of a war. Hence, in case of a mass uprising in any of these countries, NATO will intervene by mobilizing the counter- revolutionary forces in all of these countries.

Neither do national borders in our region hinder ideological struggles. For instance, political currents like the so-called radical democracy that are necessary for the continuation of the capitalist system act in solidarity with and contribute to each other. Syriza party in Greece and social democrat and liberal parties in Turkey are examples of this.

It is our duty then, under these circumstances, to organize a much more stronger working class internationalism in our region.

We propose the following to undertake this duty:

The parties in the region, provided that their own integrity is preserved, should

1. develop their solidarity so that they can evaluate specific tangible problems together
2. facilitate possibilities of instant information sharing
3. make decisions together in moments of crisis
4. be able to open bilateral representative offices to accelerate the process
5. be able to develop mutual defensive tactics when one of the parties is under attack

The interventions of imperialism and the capitalist class in our region deserve such a response.

We will start fulfilling our responsibilities to develop our relationship accordingly right after this meeting.

Long live socialism

Long live internationalism

Communist Party, Turkey - Central Committee