The political upheaval in Turkey is testimony to the generalised breakdown taking place internationally in the political institutions and mechanisms of bourgeois rule.

More... (http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/07/16/turk-j16.html)

"There is no alternative but people"- Statement of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) on the attempted military coup

http://icp.sol.org.tr/sites/default/files/kp_bayrak-1.png

Statement from the Communist Party, Turkey. Source: International Communist Press, 16th July 2016.
Communist Party, Turkey (KP) released a statement on the military activities ongoing since the night of 15th July. Following is the full text of the statement from KP:

"The Communist Party is calling on our people to organize in the Party's ranks against the enemies of the people and humanity.

The liberation is in our own hands.

We do not have all the details of what happened during the coup attempt that took place in Turkey in the hours between July 15 and July 16.

However, we know very well that plans that are supported by foreign forces, that do not take its power from the working class can not defeat AKP darkness and solve Turkey's problems.
The events of today reminded us the following reality once again: Either the people of Turkey will organize and get rid of AKP or AKP's reactionary policies will intensify, repression will increase, massacres, the plunder and theft will continue.

The only power that can overthrow AKP is the people's power, there is no alternative to it.

AKP is responsible for all that took place tonight. All the factors that led to the current situation and the conditions are the product of AKP's rule and the domestic and foreign bosses that support AKP.

However, the fact that the main responsible party is AKP does not mean that the coup attempt was one that was orchestrated by Erdogan himself in order to achieve his objectives such as paving the path to an executive presidency or clearing the obstacles facing the new constitution.

The tension and the rivalries between different groups within the state and the armed forces that have been known to exist for a while have turned into armed conflict. While the tension between these forces is real, it is a lie that any of the sides in this conflict represent the interests of the people. Following this, searching for the solution against AKP's rule in a military coup is as wrong as lending any support to AKP under the guise of taking a position against military coups for whatever reason. The last thing that should be done in the name of supporting freedom and human rights in Turkey is to lend support to AKP which has proven over and over that it is an enemy of humanity.

While they have not orchestrated this coup, Erdoğan and AKP will make an effort to use the resulting conditions and the support they received as means to increase their legitimacy. Our people should be on the alert against steps that AKP will be certain to take in the days to come. Raising the struggle against AKP and its darkness is the only way to stop this failed coup attempt resulting in AKP's solidifying its rule and turning into a tool for transforming AKP's unstable Turkey into stability. The fact that all mosques in Turkey have broadcasted continuous Erdoğan propaganda the whole night is a concrete indication of the urgency of our task at hand.

The Communist Party is calling on our people to organize in the Party's ranks against the enemies of the people and humanity.

The liberation is in our own hands.

Communist Party, Turkey
16.07.2016

http://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2016/07/there-is-no-alternative-but-people.html

Kemal Okuyan (Communist Party, Turkey): "Erdoğan cannot trust anyone anymore"

Interview with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) on the coup attempt in Turkey.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8La4w80iJok/V4vNXd79EeI/AAAAAAAABMY/0bWmJnJqLYQj2561fdrwJzDxs4vkPwCDACLcB/s320/Kemal%2BOkuyan%2BFS%2Bof%2BKP%2BTurkey.jpg

Source: International Communist Press, 17th July 2016.

Following is the interview of the soL news portal with Kemal Okuyan First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) on the coup attempt in Turkey:

SoL: Was the coup attempt surprising for you?

KO: Nothing happening in Turkey should surprise anyone. But more importantly, the possibility of a military coup had been increasing gradually. There are international actors and some power groups in Turkey, who are frustrated by Erdoğan. We have indicated the causes of this discontent several times, we are not making those up. Those are documented, reported facts. Could there be a rule for the capitalists saying there cannot be any conflict within imperialists, no giving away of their own politicians? Recep Tayyip Erdoğan served a lot for the international monopolies, he is still serving them though… But both he himself has made mistakes and also the inner conflicts of the imperialism have been deepened creating various tendencies some of which are not happy with a Turkey with Erdoğan. In that sense, a coup was predictable. Yet obviously there are surprising things about this attempt.

SoL: Some consider everything as a scenario?

KO: It is not a comparison but: I don't understand how certain people take Talat Aydemir’s interventions* seriously but not consider this attempt as realistic? This is because, everything can be visualised today. Image ruins fetishes, yet creates new ones. There is video footage everywhere, those create perceptions of a “fake coup”. Whereas before, everything was on narrative and documents and could be idealized. The fact that this incident has strengthened Erdoğan’s position does not mean it was organised by him or his men. The attempt had some particular critical moments, and if things had been different at those moments we would be talking about quite a different picture.

SoL: Isn’t it odd?

KO: Are there standards on “How to make a coup”? Yes it is odd, there are lots of question marks. Yet, this attempt has aimed Erdoğan as its weight. This quite fits the political approach of the “cemaat”** group, which is alleged to lead the attempt. An Erdoğanless AKP! There is a reason behind the operation at Marmaris and the intervention attempts to Erdoğan’s plane in flight. There may be ineptness, but Erdoğan’s part, who are screaming of victory, also had ineptitude. Sometimes history changes accidentally. Apparently it was a plan on Erdoğan. Besides, there is the fact that it has started earlier than planned and that’s why it was an immature attempt. Yet, there are some quite professional dimensions of the attempt. Such as: kidnapping a senior commanding officer from a wedding party at Kadıköy, İstanbul, via helicopter raid...

SoL: Well, don’t you find anything suspicious?

KO: To indicate that “there is something fishy” in all these, has a point: “ it is impossible that the government was totally unaware of the attempt”. The possibility of a military intervention was something everyone (at least everyone with a political reason) knew, no need for security intelligence. Also, no need to be an intelligence officer to predict that possibility would be increased just before the meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ). On the other hand, it is impossible to obscure an organised attempt in this extent from the government with a TAF-NIO-Police (Turkish Armed Forces-National Intelligence Organization- Police Department) triangle full of cliques. The exact timing and the plans could not have been known, some groups may have led Erdoğan wrongly and even some of Erdoğan’s people (not himself) could have said “eventually all this would serve us”. But of course all these are normal. This does not make the coup attempt a plot. It was quite obvious that at some moment Erdoğan said “it is over”, just like he had done during Gezi days in 2013. You can tell this from his asylum appeal to Germany.

SoL: Is that true?

KO: The communist members of the European parliament say it is the official information from the EU institutions. Apparently, Erdoğan was desperate when the threat to himself reached its peak while he was on flight and not being able to arrive in İstanbul. His request for permission to land on the Greek island Skyros was something similar. It is said that both of the requests were refused, this is also strange.

SoL: Does that mean the West supported the attempt?

KO: We cannot say where the literal refusal of the permission to land for the plane or the asylum appeal come from. But there are two things that I am conscious of, one theoretical, one practical. This attempt has its international links. It is impossible to embark such an attempt without the encouragement or guidance of an US State fraction. This is the theoretical part. Besides there are the first impressions of the US and the EU indicating their opinion of a successful coup and their impartial reaction in the first hours. There was not any support for Erdoğan until the attempt proved to be failing. “ The West stood up to it!”; false! Their words only contain cliche like: stability, democracy, concerns...

SoL: The government also revealed US support under the attempt.

KO: By these claims they expect to avoid US’s intervention to the possible new attempts and they invest in the nationalist ideology inside. Yet these double issues; the genetic code of the islamist-nationalist groups would not fit for a real struggle with US. They’d like to show off their power over 18 year old soldiers not over grand forces. Besides, if the current order in Turkey changes direction, it collapses, dissolves completely.

SoL: Let’s talk about that, those young soldiers seem to have no idea of what is going on. The mock scenario claims are based on this.

KO: Which coup would inform the privates in advance? This is ridiculous! They would say it was an exercise, a terrorist threat. Besides, the attempting group were not acting with their own ideology. That “Cemaat” group had to use a Kemalist discourse in their declaration. Yet the most important characteristic was their views about keeping the people strictly away from everything. They did everything to achieve this. So, it is absolutely normal that they did not tell the soldiers “We are taking over the government”

SoL: Then why did they fail?

KO: I believe the first reason is that they couldn't’t reach the target, which was Erdoğan. Another thing, they had reckoned some departments would join them, and this did not happen. On the other hand the departments which participated is more than we think. But they couldn't depend on the privates, when success was delayed, lower ranks started to dissolve. The critical issue at this point is the very few resistance from the side of the TAF departments which were not involved in the attempt. Apparently most of them wanted to see the progress. This will have serious consequences in the coming days. It is seen that the state has disintegrated once again in Turkey. Erdoğan cannot trust anyone anymore in this structure.

SoL: Let’s proceed with the political consequences. Where is Turkey heading?

KO: We leave it for later if you like. Our Party has released an initial statement. We are now gathering for a detailed assessment. KP will make a more detailed statement to the public tomorrow.

SoL: The last question then. How do you consider the opposition’s reaction?

KO: The support provided by CHP and HDP is not about their anti-coup positions. We are also against this attempt, against any action which does not have roots in the people’s legitimate movements and obviously against any pro-American coup! But all CHP and HDP are doing is to seek normalization with AKP as always. “Victory of , festival of democracy”: disgraceful. This is same for Cumhuriyet newspaper, and it is not something new. Yet it becomes disgusting at times like this.

* An unsuccessful attempt by a group in the military, led by Colonel Talat Aydemir in February 1962. By that attempt Aydemir and his followers were aiming the liquidation of the" pro-May 27, 1960 coup" officers within TAF.


** "Cemaat" indicates the Gülen movement.

http://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2016/07/kemal-okuyan-communist-party-turkey.html

Erdogan vs Coup: The two sides of the same coin

COMMENTARY.
By Nikos Mottas.
http://communismgr.blogspot.com/2016/07/erdogan-vs-coup-two-sides-of-same-coin.html

It is certainly too early in order to draw solid conclusions about the attempted military coup in Turkey. The developments and the information we receive are rapid and continuous. Numerous questions arise: Who was really behind the attempted Coup? What were the real motives of this action? How will Tayip Erdogan and his government respond in the next few days? However, what is sure is the framework within which the developments in Turkey are taking place: It is a framework of inter-bourgeois contradictions which reflect a sharp rivalry between different parts of the Turkish Capital.
The attempted military coup- as well as the almost immediate response from Erdogan and AKP supporters- reflect a situation of internal war within Turkey’s bourgeoisie. Taking into account the significant geostrategic role of Turkey in the region, we can understand that this intra-bourgeois, intra-capitalist war consists part of broader inter-imperialist contradictions in the Middle East.
The situation in Turkey cannot be explained on the basis of the- nevertheless existing- political rivalry between pro-Islamists (Erdogan) and Kemalist forces; It is a deeper and much more complicated situation. The internal political turmoil in Turkey is interdependent with the imperialist activity in the region– with the ongoing war in Syria and the relations of the Turkish government with foreign powers such as the US, NATO, Russia, the EU, ISIS etc.
The Turkish people- the working class of Turkey, the low-income masses of the country- are between Scylla and Charybdis. Both Tayip Erdogan’s establishment and the Coup’s perpetrators consist the two sides of the same coin. They both express sectors of Turkey’s ruling bourgeois-class which antagonize each other for more authority, more profits and more exploitation against the country’s working people. On this framework, both sides (Erdogan and his rivals) try to manipulate the masses and to entrap the Turkish people in a struggle under false flags.
The working class of Turkey must not be entrapped in this intra-bourgeois war. On the contrary, as the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) pointed outin it’s statement, the Turkish people must organise their own struggle, the people’s struggle. The true liberation from exploitation and oppression is only in the hands of the people– they will have the last word.

In Defense of Communism ©.

http://houstoncommunistparty.com/erdogan-vs-coup-the-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/

Who prevented the coup and who hit the streets? – Ali Ergin Demirhan

The crowds in Harbiye, Taksim, Saraçhane and in front of the Istanbul Police Station on Vatan Avenue on the night of 15 July were neither the force that stopped the coup nor interested in protecting democracy

http://sendika10.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/cubbeliler.gif

There has been a claim making the rounds among government supporters and some sections of the opposition since the momentous events of 15 July: “The attempted coup of 15 July was stopped by the people exercising their right to resistance for democracy.”

This is wrong on two fronts. First, the factor that stopped the coup was not the resistance from civilians pouring onto the streets; second, the resistance of the civilians hitting the streets was not in the name of democracy.

This coup attempt was destined to failure because it failed to secure support from the United States and the European Union, proceeded without support from the General Staff and was conducted with such poor planning that it failed to exercise even a minimum amount of control over the tools of communication.

Given that Turkey’s is a NATO army, it is well-nigh impossible for the army to conduct a successful coup against the wishes of the US and EU (that is, NATO) and the top military brass.

The civilians that hit the streets against the stillborn coup were not engaged in resistance against putschists but fought as reinforcements for the police in a battle between two elements of the government, while being deployed to the front as a shield or a canary in the mines – taking their share of the bullets in the process in certain areas.

It is also important to note that a portion of these “civilians” drawn from the ranks of the supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) were members of Islamist organizations close to the government that have sprouted with the wars in Syria and Iraq, as well as members of religious brotherhoods (tariqat).

Moreover, despite the direct calls of the government, the religious exploitation of mosques by the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) in mobilizing for the government, and the armed protection of the police, the crowds that hit the street were negligible in terms of their numbers and ability to resist. In comparison to the participants in the Gezi Park uprising, a barometer as far as the AKP is concerned, it wasn’t even in the same league.

According to the state’s own estimates, millions of people poured onto the streets during the Gezi Resistance – drawing merely on the people’s own resources in spite of oppressive state terror. Even with the most generous estimate, no more than several hundred thousand people hit the streets on the night of 15 July, even though the government, police services, Diyanet and municipalities offered all manners of encouragement, protection and support to the mobilization.

Who was on the streets of Istanbul?

We had a chance to observe the crowds on the streets from Harbiye to Taksim and from Saraçhane to the Istanbul Police Station on Vatan Avenue on the night of 15 July. On display were crowds marked by religious attire that displayed a discipline that was evident from their marching to their slogans but who were limited in number. Many in the crowds conspicuously lacked experience in mass resistance, and many appeared uncomfortable, timid and awkward in the situation.

The crowds dispersed when the clashes intensified and could only reassemble when security was re-established. The “militancy” of such crowds was confined to places in which soldiers surrendered, weapons were not fired and tanks did not roll. Such “militancy” also showcased itself in the form of lynching conscripts who had surrendered, slitting their throats and posing for pictures on the top of tanks after the danger had passed.

This crowd, which was carelessly described as “resistors for democracy” by the ruling and opposition parties during a General Assembly in parliament on 16 July, consisted of a fascist mass that sees no problem in the anti-democratic nature of the government even as it defended it against an anti-democratic coup attempt, featured not anti-coup protesters but fanatical AKP supporters and shouted slogans in favor of sharia and the return of capital punishment instead of democracy.

This crowd was one that would not insist on fighting a fight it knew it would lose, but easily descended into barbarism when victory was assured, holding a knife to the throat of those surrendering.

Who defended the Istanbul Police Station?

When we approached the Istanbul Police Station on Vatan toward 02.30 in the night, we observed that it was not police cars that had blocked the way but municipal vehicles. In a number of areas, municipalities were sending more work vehicles to form barricades than the police.

Men with religious attire were very prominent amid the crowd waiting in front of the station. Agitators continually sought to convince the crowd to stay, saying, “Our only armed force is the police; don’t leave – this is where we are for today.” Accompanying the calls of the agitators were shouts of “death to the putschist officers.” In tandem with unceasing calls from the mosques, the crowds in religious attire marched in a disciplined cortege toward the police station. The extent of the AKP’s celebration of democracy was to shout slogans in favor of shariah law against a coup that had already been doomed to failure!

Until it became clear that the coup attempt would not succeed, the civilians on the street displayed hesitation, while the police presence was below expectations. The putschist soldiers were demobilized and forced to surrender not so much because of determined resistance but because potential supporters, especially the military brass of the Turkish Armed Forces, left the insurgents isolated.

It is of critical importance to note the hesitant reaction of the police and the crowd in the face of the coup attempt from the AKP’s perspective. It should come as a surprise to no one if the police are targeted in operations in the near future. As for the crowds, they are gaining courage from stories of cheap heroism that were made possible by the defeat of the enemy.

Democratic resistance

The Erdoğan-AKP supporters that hit the street on 15 July are being held up as role models for the entire AKP grassroots with exaggerated suggestions that they displayed resistance for democracy. Leaving aside the overt images of barbarism and lynchings, most of the images published in the media purporting to show “massive resistance for democracy” were staged. We witnessed one of these staged scenes during the night in an almost empty Taksim Square.

“Soldiers shot at the ground, and one bullet ricocheted and hit us. Come and look,” one person wounded by a soldier’s bullet said. A correspondent for Habertürk immediately arrived on the scene and began to herald the ostensible massive resistance for democracy against the coup. The reporter’s first attempt was unsuccessful when a woman waving a flag behind the injured protester failed to control herself and started smiling. A second attempt failed when the injured man failed to say what the reporter wanted. On the third attempt, even though the injured man said, “The soldiers shot into the ground and then it hit us,” a number of times, the reporter continued to say, “The soldiers shot directly at you, no?” Exhausted, the injured man finally gave up and said “yes.”

We have no desire to make the violence or the coup attempt appear innocent, caricaturize the battles or trivialize the deaths. But what we witnessed was an anti-democratic coup attempt doomed to failure being faced by a government and its grassroots acting with equally anti-democratic impulses. The AKP, which called its grassroots onto the street “until the problem is solved,” is now looking to turn the incident to its advantage and force its own dictatorial project on society by presenting it as “a democratic movement that comes from the people below.”

It is necessary to expose the lie that the “15 July coup attempt was stopped by the people using their democratic right to resistance,” as well as the fascist nature of the crowds that sprang into action, to defeat the AKP’s attempts to impose a dictatorship.

Ultimately, it behoves everyone who says no to both a coup and an Islamist dictatorship to remember the third option presented at Gezi as a model for resisting for democracy.

http://sendika10.org/2016/07/who-prevented-the-coup-and-who-hit-the-streets-ali-ergin-demirhan/

Communist Party, Turkey (KP): Statement of the Central Committee regarding the latest developments in the country

Source: kp.org.tr.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party has gathered on 17th of July and assessed the latest developments in the country deeply and also discussed the Party's situation and missions.
The Statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Turkey on July 2016
1. July 15th coup attempt has not brought ideologically conflicting centers subject to each other, but involved at least two and even more state cliques, which have identical class identities and ideologies. It is not possible that these cliques would be totally unaware of each other's plans and actions just like it is being impossible to dissociated them. However the attempt on 15th of July is not a bloody scenario totally planned by Erdoğan as some claimed so, but is a real coup attempt.

2. There are two dimensions of the path leading to the coup. First one, is the “fight for power” between Erdoğan supporters and Gülen Community which has gained a new dimension after the large purge of Gülen followers. This fight is getting ever deeper on both political and economical context and is also having an international dimension and different trends within the imperialist centers are supporting those factions.
3. It is the reality that most of the officers took place in the coup attempt are members of the Gulen Community and it is well known that the Community has deep and strong connections in USA. The opinion that,since Turkey has close military relations with USA as being a member of NATO, the coups in Turkey can not be made without the consent of USA is very much true. And the main reason that the high ranking members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) who are not happy with the AKP haven’t attempted any coup, was the support of the USA government to AKP.
4. This support has been reduced recently because of various reasons, even, some constituents have teeth in USA and some European countries, have started to get ready for Erdoğan’s purge. The uprising of the people in 2013 with the participation of the millions, the mischievous affects on the interest of the system of the tension created in society by Erdoğan and finally the failure of the Syrian policy deeply effected the relations between Erdoğan and some imperialist countries. It is not possible to consider the 15th July coup attempt without taking account this tension.
5. Coup plotters having connection abroad is not making Erdoğan a patriot or anti-imperialist. As a politician, Erdoğan largely served to the USA and international monopolies and now he is sealing some alliances and maneuvering in order to save himself as a politician loosing his grace among the powers supported him for years. His approaching to that or this international focus doesn’t change his denominational character and his ideological preferences. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a bourgeois politician, he is an enemy of working class, he is a counter revolutionist and he is not different than the coup plotters who want to topple him.
6. The coup attempt, regarding the powers behind, the methods which were used and ideological fundamentals, are not holding any point for the interest of the people. The opinion, that the country would have got out of difficulties if the coup have been successful is groundless. It is obvious, what an pro-American, hostile to the people coup would mean.
7. It is also nonsense to present the suppression of the coupe as a victory for the people and/or celebrate it is a democracy fest trailing AKP. This is an approach which does not question the legality of the AKP regime and ignore the class fundamentals of the things going on in the country.
8. The argument claiming that Erdoğan gained more power after this coup attempt is true to a certain extent. Without doubt, Erdoğan got a chance to inflict a heavy blow to the Gülen Community; showed himself as a victim one more time, consolidated his crowds and tested the power of some organisations associated with him. However he ended up with a seriously damaged state apparatus and he also had to face that there is not any safe bureaucracy anymore because of the transitory of the integral cliques.
9. Under these circumstances Erdoğan may totally prefer to stick his own sources within the two critical body of the state apparatus, Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and Judiciary, and prefer to purge not only the Gülen community members but also some Kemalist constituents who used to be in alliance with him. There are serious difficulties to stick totally own sources in TSK and Judiciary even if it is relatively easier in some other parts of the bureaucracy. Erdoğan can not make this move -which means to decelerate clearly an Islamic state- real without avoiding to involve into final and absolute revenge on the both political and social levels. On the other hand Erdoğan doesn’t have any other way out to consolidate his own crowds.
10. It is possible that Erdoğan will go into the effort of mending the relations with USA and reducing the internal tension after the short period of terror and intimidation, there are already some signals showing he is getting ready for those steps. Also the expectations of CHP and HDP are in this direction. The difficulty of this option is Erdoğan will not be able to continue and do politics without tension and opening a space for his radical elements. Parliament opposition does not actually have any problem with Erdoğan and AKP.
11. In each situation there is a dissolution and multi dimensional crisis regarding the hegemony of the capital. It's not this dissolution but the unorganised state of the working class, which is actually dangerous.
12. Another danger is the opinion, which has become popular after the coup attempt, saying Erdoğan is undefeatable. Scary scenarios are coming along with this opinion and a panic environment is being created with the speculative news which some parts of them are not real. AKP government has always been dangerous and it is clear that they are even more dangerous now. Additionally the panic environment which is created, makes the aggression of AKP legitimate. However neither AKP and Erdoğan are powerful as they claim nor Turkey is a country which could be ended or blackened in a minute. For example, during and after the "celebration"moments the number of the AKP followers were few on the streets in spite of all the calls for celebrations. The right position is, to be aware of the danger but not cause a panic, and on the contrary try to evaluate this dissolution from the point of working classes.
13. AKP and the fundamentalist threat must not be underrated at all. The period started with the sentence “secularism is not in danger” carried the country to the edge of abyss. There is a mission for the better organised and more effective opposition of the people against that considerable threat. This mission can not be performed by creating panic after all these woolgathering years. It is not acceptable that the system opposition is crowning its past carelessness by creating a panic.
14. Under these conditions the major power of AKP and Erdoğan stays to be his opponents in the political system. The politics of the system formed all its policy based on normalising, transforming, convincing AKP. It is remarkable and worrying the attitude of some politicians who claims that they are the “left” wing in the parliament.
15. Experiences during and after the 15th July exposed how cruel can be the factions in the government. We all watched how the coup plotters can make their ways cruel. Then, we saw the barbarism been staged by the government. All these can not be handled by the approach of “let them kill each other”. Unknown number of citizens have been killed and private soldiers who don't have any idea what is going on have been lynched. People will bring the account of all these lawless actions,lynch, torture towards suspects and surrended privates and the rulers of those two factions cooperated together for years but fighting each other now will answer the public together.
16. It is not correct to explain all these cruelties with “power”. On the contrary there is dissolution, fear and confusion on the side of the government. Spreading fear can only be passed by strong, solid and consistent steps but not with the unplanned silly actions. And this dissolution can be turn into an opportunity for the people.
17. As we always emphasize, Turkey can only be out of woods by struggle of the working class together against the class hegemony presented by dark powers but not with the dance of dark powers. We refuse all kind of analysis and positioning ignoring this reality. It is obvious that Communists will not give credit to quackery of the victory of democratic powers and cunning sayings as all become together against Erdoğan. There are some creating panic with saying “followers of sharia will cut our heads off” among the people saying the victory of democratic powers, and even this can show the dimension of confusion. We tell again, we would never become together with the representatives of the capitalist class, USA and NATO supported coups or agents of colorful revolutions. This doesnt make us weak, the thing making us weak is the unorganisation of working class and them following fake solutions.
18. It needed to be understood one more time that how the enmity of "organising" created a gap at the people's side, where the Gülen Community gangs which placed into the government, the interest groups, the triggers and even the mafia have been very well organised in the country. If we go further, we can say that everybody who are side with the humanitarian ideals, a classless society without exploitation must work together on the common minded, sustainable organisation. It is called as being an enemy to the people not doing it, legalising the carelessness and laziness. It is the necessity to organise, improve, and empower the class organisation which is free from the Community, fundamentalism, capital and imperialist centers. The ones who blessed the people's not politicised reactions, unorganised masses, and the ones who aimed aimlessness and formlessness together with the expression of “Gezi pluralism” must have been learnt their lesson.
19. It is the only aim of the Communist Party to become an independent revolutionary organisation which can change the balances in the country, can spoil the game in such coup nights or reactionist lynch campaigns. And our ultimate call for our labouring people is to trust their own power, move all together and take the initiative by stopping to follow this nightmare.

http://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2016/07/communist-party-turkey-kp-statement-of.html

http://www.kurdishquestion.com/visual/article/800x550/787f2813e84fba723d0ad40ed1d2cf49.jpg

Kurdish Movement Releases Statement on Turkey Coup Attempt

Kurdish Question

The umbrella organisation of the Kurdish movement, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Co-Presidency, has released a statement about last night's coup attempt in Turkey.

The statement said; “There has been a coup attempt by persons whose identity and purpose is yet not clear. This attempt comes just before the military council meeting, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was reportedly going to assign generals close to himself to the army's top tier. Another striking dimension of the coup attempt is that it comes at a time when discussions about the fascist AKP government's foreign policy, were taking place.”

Coup attempt is proof of lack of democracy

The statement by KCK reads; “No matter within which internal and external political factors and focuses, and for what reasons a power struggle is waged, this case is not a matter of defending or being against democracy. On the contrary, this situation is the proof of lack of democracy in Turkey. Such power struggles and attempts to seize power are witnessed in undemocratic countries where an authoritarian power makes coup attempts to overthrow another authoritarian power when conditions are appropriate. This is what has happened in Turkey.

A coup was staged on 7 June

A year ago, Erdoğan and the Palace Gladio (Erdoğan's secret force), alongside the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), all fascist circles, nationalist military powers (Ergenekon) and a part of the army, staged a coup. This was a palace (Erdoğan) coup against the democratic will of the people [which voted in the HDP and left the AKP short of a majority]. AKP fascism allied itself with all the fascist powers and a part of the army including the Chief of Staff in order to suppress the Kurdish Freedom Movement and democratic forces. The AKP's fascism drove the army into Kurdish cities and towns, made them burn cities to the ground and massacre hundreds of civilians. Recently it has passed new laws that have give immunity to state forces, preventing trial for the crimes they have committed. In this way the AKP has become a government that has legitimised and made legal the military's tutelage over democratic politics and society.

Coup attempt from one military faction against another

There was already military tutelage in Turkey before yesterday's coup attempt; which makes the attempt a coup by one military faction against the existing one. This is why a section of the military has taken sides with Erdoğan, because there is already military tutelage in Turkey.

The fact that the MHP and chauvinistic nationalist circles took sides with the Palace Gladio (Erdogan) and its fascist allies reveals quite clearly that this is not an incident of struggle between those siding with democracy and those standing against it.

Portraying Erdoğan democratic is dangerous

Portraying Erdoğan and the fascist AKP dictatorship as if they were democratic after this coup attempt is an approach even more dangerous than the coup attempt itself. Portraying the fight for power among authoritarian, despotic and anti-democratic forces as a fight between the supporters and enemies of democracy will only serve to legitimise the existing fascist and despotic government.

Democracy forces do not side with either camp

Turkey does not have a civilian group in power, nor is this a struggle between democracy forces and putschists. The current fight is about who should lead the current political system, which is the enemy of democracy and the Kurdish people. Therefore, democracy forces do not side with either camp during these clashes.

The coup against democracy is the one carried out by the fascist AKP

If there is a coup against democracy, it is the one carried out by the fascist AKP government. The political power’s control over the judiciary, the implementation of fascist laws and policies through a parliamentarian majority, the removal of parliamentarians’ immunities, the arrest of co-mayors, the removal of co-mayors from their positions, and the imprisonment of thousands of politicians from the HDP and DBP constitute more of an actual coup. Kurdish people are under unprecedented genocidal, fascist, and colonialist attacks in Kurdistan.

AKP dragging Turkey into clashes

What has brought Turkey to this stage is the AKP government, which has transformed into a government of war against Kurdish people and the forces of democracy. With its monistic, hegemonic and anti-democratic character, it has kept Turkey in chaos and conflict. With its war against the Kurdish people and the forces of democracy, it has kept Turkey in a state of civil war. The latest coup attempt shows that Turkey needs to get rid of the fascist AKP government and have a democratic government. The recent developments make it urgent for Turkey to democratise and get rid of its monist, hegemonic and fascist government.

To sum up, the forces of democracy should confront the legitimisation of the fascist AKP government’s policies under the disguise of democracy, and create a democratic alliance that truly would democratise Turkey. This coup attempt makes it necessary for us to not slow down the struggle against the AKP's fascism but to enhance it so that chaos and clashes in Turkey come to an end and a new and democratic Turkey emerges."

http://www.kurdishquestion.com/article/3289-kurdish-movement-releases-statement-on-turkey-coup-attempt

No matter within which internal and external political factors and focuses, and for what reasons a power struggle is waged, this case is not a matter of defending or being against democracy. On the contrary, this situation is the proof of lack of democracy in Turkey. Such power struggles and attempts to seize power are witnessed in undemocratic countries where an authoritarian power makes coup attempts to overthrow another authoritarian power when conditions are appropriate. This is what has happened in Turkey.

This, I think, is crystal clear.

http://i.milliyet.com.tr/YeniAnaResim/2016/03/30/fft99_mf6807749.Jpeg

And if you don't play ball you are out of NATO (past 24 hours).

"At a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that America stands "squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey," but that "we urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation's democratic institutions and the rule of law".

While Ms Mogherini warned that countries that allow the death penalty cannot join the European Union, Mr Kerry added that "Nato also has a requirement with respect to democracy," The Washington Post reported.

The US "will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice," he said, "but we also caution against a reach that goes beyond that and stress the importance of the democratic rule being upheld"."

http://i.milliyet.com.tr/YeniAnaResim/2016/03/30/fft99_mf6807749.Jpeg

And if you don't play ball you are out of NATO (past 24 hours).

"At a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that America stands "squarely on the side of the elected leadership in Turkey," but that "we urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation's democratic institutions and the rule of law".

While Ms Mogherini warned that countries that allow the death penalty cannot join the European Union, Mr Kerry added that "Nato also has a requirement with respect to democracy," The Washington Post reported.

The US "will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice," he said, "but we also caution against a reach that goes beyond that and stress the importance of the democratic rule being upheld"."

Jesus, what an asshole Kerry is. Let a coup attempt happen in the US and the US would go back to the Bronze Age in about five minutes. Don't these American shits get tired of looking down their noses? Seems like it would cause eye strain...

State of emergency
21-Jul-2016 11:56 pm
Introduced in Turkey a state of emergency can only say that the situation is still not under the full control of the authorities. Erdogan said that there can be a new coup attempt. It should be understood that Erdogan is obviously trying to squeeze out all possible situations.



The paradox of the situation lies in the fact that today it is obvious against Erdogan formed two large and very strong group in the Turkish elite: Kemalists and gyulenisty. The names are rather conventional, but in general they reflect the qualitative composition of Erdogan's opponents. The first - the opponents of political Islam, even in its relatively soft performance. Second -. Former colleagues Erdogan, who were defeated in the course of the hardware permutations Following the victory of the Islamists in the beginning of zero years During Erdogan's favor those who were able to move over the last decade, and most importantly - a thick layer of rural bourgeoisie and the petty-bourgeois urban population of first and second generation immigrants from the same village. They make up the electorate Erdogan and during the struggle always supported him. It should be understood that this is quite a thick layer of the population is young and actively moving up the social ladder. The control over the army, Erdogan received (though not fully) through the gradual saturation of its rank and file and junior officers of his supporters. Over the past decade, they are also gradually moving in the middle of commands. Higher positions they have not on the shoulder, but large-scale purges in the army after the failed coup create a significant number of jobs, and now has a chance to be as massive promotion of junior and middle commanders, namely supporting Erdogan. In fact, large-scale clean it and directed. Another area where massive repression are - oddly, education. This is a clear attack on Gülen, funds which is actively financed educational programs. . It is dedicated to stripping officials of local and regional level During Erdogan's work and the impossibility of combining the Kemalists and gyulenistov - they are enemies, so his task now - consistently weaken the other, taking care to maintain a balance in the repression against those and others. Today's strikes on gyulenistam show Erdogan who said a priority. Another issue is that the contradictions that drive Turkey into crisis, have not gone away. The question of the power to Erdogan, of course, today is the key, but he will do with it for the solution of the crisis - the answer to this question as there was no and no.

http://el-murid.livejournal.com/2893129.html?utm_source=twsharing&utm_medium=social

Google Translator

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2016/images/leman.jpg In what follows we will try to answer three questions only. First, what was the array of forces that confronted each other in the putsch or, in other words, how did the civil war of the bourgeoisie play out in this episode? Second, how did this civil war have its refracted impact on the currents within the TSK (the armed forces) and what kind of place did this imply for the US vis-à-vis the coup? Third, what is the real role of the masses in the defeat of the coup? If we limit ourselves to these questions alone and also treat them in almost schematic terms, that is because the extremely complex nature of the dynamics of Turkish society in the recent period makes it impossible to take up all the questions relevant to the discussion of the coup. So we will not touch upon burning questions such as the relation of this process to the overall situation in the Middle East and in particular what we have earlier called the "Syrianization" of Turkey, the position of the Kurdish movement faced to the coup, the prevarications of many leading members of the bourgeoisie in this life or death struggle, and many others.

More... (http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2016/savran200716.html)

Erdogan Warned of Incoming Coup by Russian Alert

http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Images/1395/04/27/13950427001185_PhotoI.jpg

TEHRAN (FNA)- Arab media outlets quoted diplomats in Ankara as disclosing that Turkey's President Erdogan was alerted by Russia against an imminent army coup hours before it was initiated on Friday, while a western media outlet said Erdogan asked his supporters to remain in the streets after receiving advice from Tehran.
Several Arab media outlets, including Rai Alyoum, quoted diplomatic sources in Ankara as saying that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization, known locally as the MIT, received intel from its Russian counterpart that warned of an impending coup in the Muslim state.

The unnamed diplomats said the Russian army in the region had intercepted highly sensitive army exchanges and encoded radio messages showing that the Turkish army was readying to stage a coup against the administration in Ankara.

The exchanges included dispatch of several army choppers to President Erdogan's resort hotel to arrest or kill the president.

The diplomats were not sure of the Russian station that had intercepted the exchanges, but said the Russian army intelligence unit deployed in Khmeimim (also called Hmeimim) in Syria's Northern province of Lattakia is reportedly equipped with state-of-the-art electronic and eavesdropping systems to gather highly sensitive information for the Russian squadrons that are on an anti-terrorism mission in Syria.

Khmeimim in Northwestern Syria is the only Russian air force base in the war-ravaged country that provides cover for Syrian army and popular forces in multiple fronts across the country, in addition to bombing missions against terrorist targets. The Russian naval fleet, including its only aircraft carrier, are deployed along the coasts of Lattakia border province to provide logistical aid to the air base in a short time. Meantime, Russia has deployed its highly sophisticated S-400 air defense shield at Khmeimim and announced that it covers the entire Syrian skies with the same air defense system.

Last year, Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi bomber over Syrian skies and President Erdogan who was then a staunch enemy of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad rejected extending an apology to Moscow for about a year, although economic sanctions by Russia as well as growing victories by the Syrian army, popular forces, Hezbollah fighters, Iranian advisors and Russian air force that cornered the terrorists in Syria and similar victories against ISIL in Iraq convinced the Turkish president to not just apologize for the Sukhoi incident, but also show signs of a U-turn in foreign policy, saying that he is dropping his opposition to President Assad.

Four days after the coup, officials in Ankara announced that the two Turkish pilots who played a role in the downing of the Russian plane in November were in custody over the recent failed coup. “Two pilots who were part of the operation to down the Russian Su-24 in November 2015 are in custody,” a Turkish official told journalists on Tuesday, adding that they were detained over links to the coup bid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, describing the attempted coup as unacceptable and voicing hope for a speedy return to stability.

The diplomatic sources said the shift in Erdogan's foreign policy stated only a week before the coup has been "a major cause pushing several foreign states to provoke and promise support for the army to stage the coup, and the same shift also saved him" as it was not clear if the Russians would provide Ankara with their intel, otherwise.

Officials of neither country have made any comment on the report yet. In Ankara, official sources, including the Army itself, confirmed that the Turkish army’s top generals had been informed of last week’s coup by the MIT hours before the plot came into action.

A statement issued by the army on July 19 described the events that took place on July 15, saying a majority within the military managed to suppress the coup attempt due to information provided by the MIT some five hours before the coup plot became public, national newspaper Hurriyet reported.

“The information given by the National Intelligence Organization on July 15, 2016, at around 4:00 p.m. was evaluated at the General Staff headquarters with the attendance of Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, Chief of the Army General Salih Zeki Colak and Deputy Chief of Staff General Yasar Guler."

In order to counter the coup, high ranking officials within the Turkish army gave orders for all air and ground forces around the country to immediately cease operations including military vehicles such as tanks, planes and helicopters.

A report by Al-Jazeera Arabic suggests the coup plotters initiated the operation six hours ahead of time as they had previously planned to launch the coup at 3:00 a.m. local time on July 16.

While the report does not indicate the reason for the coup being initiated ahead of time, the revelation by the military suggests the coup plotters understood their plans had been compromised and decided to act.

Reports also suggest the coup plotters had orders to kidnap or kill President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as helicopters headed toward the hotel he was staying in at the holiday resort of Marmaris. But Erdogan had left 44 minutes before they arrived, according to Al-Jazeera’s report.

The official statements coming out from Ankara are in full compliance with the Arab media reports quoting the diplomatic sources on the Russian intel.

Only four days after the coup, Erdogan appeared on the media saying that he plans to declare a crucial turn in foreign policy that would "end differences with Turkey's neighboring states".

Less than a day later, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that President Erdogan would visit Russia early in August to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Meantime, Iran rushed to condemn the Turkish army coup only two hours after it started. Several top security and foreign policy officials in Tehran were in constant contact with President Erdogan and his cabinet ministers all throughout Friday.

As July 15 was coming to an end in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was on the phone with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, whose government was under the threat of being overthrown by a military coup. Meanwhile, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), was on another line with security officials in Ankara. All the while, Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Iran’s regional military arm, was busy pursuing and reviewing various scenarios that might emerge.

“It’s not a secret anymore,” an Iranian official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Zarif, Shamkhani and Soleimani were executing higher orders. The whole establishment was too concerned. Turkey is a neighboring state. President Erdogan and his government are strong partners of Iran. Our nations enjoy strong brotherly ties, so it’s the least we can do to show solidarity and try to offer any help they might need in such critical times.”

"Another Iranian official saw parallels between the successful coup against Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953 and this year's coup attempt in Turkey," Al-Monitor said.

The official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “What we know is that this move was triggered by foreign hands. We went through the same in the past, and because Mr. Erdogan is today looking forward to playing a better role in the region, they want him down.” The Iranian official said, “There was a message that was conveyed to Turkish security officials: Don’t leave the streets. This coup might be made up of several waves; it happened in Iran in 1953. When the first coup failed, they had another one ready — and they succeeded.”

In Ankara, the government claims the coup and the generals behind it are loyal followers of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was once Erdogan’s key ally before a major fallout in 2012. Many believe that Gulen is the main cause of why Ankara officials have repeatedly accused the US of masterminding the plot.

Gulen is running a multi-billion dollar enterprise in Saudi Arabia and has grown into a serious bone of contention in Ankara-Riyadh ties. Saudi Arabia reserved condemnation of the coup in a suspicious move. Later, reports surfaced the media that the top brass in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi - two strong allies of the US with unbreakably intimate ties with each other in the Persian Gulf - were involved in the coup.

Saudi whistle-blower Mujtahid, who is believed to be a member of or have a well-connected source in the royal family, dislosed that senior government officials in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi had been informed of the coup in Turkey long before it took place.

Mujtahid wrote on his twitter page on Monday that the UAE leaders had played a role in the coup and the Turkish spy agencies have come to decode this involvement, adding that the UAE leaders had also alerted the Saudis about the impending coup.

"Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman had been informed of the military coup in Turkey," Mujtahid wrote on his twitter page on Monday.

"There are reasons to prove that given his intimate relations with Mohammad bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces), Mohammad bin Salman had been filled with information about this coup," he added.

According to Mujtahid, Turkish intelligence agencies had received information about some negative collaboration between bin Salman and bin Zayed, but the Saudis managed to convince the Justice and Development party to rest assured and be optimistic about Riyadh's actions.

He revealed that bin Salman has been trying to convince the Turks to conceal the UAE's role in the coup and has promised a large amount of cash in retribution.

The last week coup in Turkey is now growing into a major regional confrontation over Turkey's shift in its Syria policy now. If confirmed, the Russian and Iranian aid to Erdogan would mean the power balance and equations in the region ought to be redefined.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950430001452

PCPE: 'The capitalists are not needed. All for the working class'


The Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) states internationalist solidarity with the revolutionary struggle of the Turkish working class. [ES]

ICP, 19th July 2016

The Political Secretary of the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) released a statement on the latest developments in Turkey.

The full text of the statement is as follows:



Statement on the latest developments in Turkey by the Political Secretary of the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain

1. Four months ago, the European Union signed an agreement with the Turkish government lead by Erdogan, on the basis of defining Turkey as a "safe country". Thereby, the EU adopted several measures to expel hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees to Turkey. It is in this "safe country" where there hast just happened a military coup, which reportedly has failed. These facts show the cynicism of the EU and its criminal responsibility in the situation of thousands of refugees, who have been deported to Turkey in recent months.

2.The events in relation to this military effort, reveal internal conflicts in Turkey among different factions of the ruling classes, wich at the same time are a consequence of the tense geopolitical situation between different imperialist interests in the Middle East and the Eurasian corridor and the contradictions between these imperialist powers. The key of these interests are the control of raw materials and military domination strategies.

3. Nowadays, the EU, US and Russia are the main powers facing each other in these conflicts. The military coup, with one or the other direction, falls within the logic of confrontation between these powers. The interventions of imperialism in this area of the world, developing all kinds of violent actions, has been a historical constant. It intensified after the Bandung Conference in 1955, which the Western imperialist powers understood as a serious threat to their interests. As a result of decades of imperialist intervention, today most of these countries are in a situation of serious internal crisis, with violent armed clashes, and with almost total subordination to the economic imperialist interests of external powers.

4. The fact that these events have occurred in a member country of NATO, and by the army, who is under its discipline, shows that the military structure in no way based on any democratic value of respect for an established legal basis. In fact, NATO is an imperialist military structure, which always behaves under the guidance of the great powers and the big capitalist monopolies, without any respect for any basic democratic law.

5. The current AKP government is nothing but the expression of the dictatorship of capital, in the specific conditions of capitalist domination in Turkey, and submissive to the imperialist powers, and also to the internal contradictions between those imperialist powers.

6. The Turkish working class does not have to choose between one or another expression of the dictatorship of capital. The working class has nothing to gain with any of them. The Turkish working class has to fight for their emancipation, to achieve the political power of the workers' in order to build a socialist society in Turkey. The new society will be based on the struggle of the Turkish working class for its revolutionary emancipation, in the specific conditions of their country, and also strengthened by the consistent practice of proletarian internationalism by the International Communist Movement, which will open in Turkey the way to the end of exploitation and the beginning of a new society with social justice: socialism.

INTERNATIONALIST SOLIDARITY WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE OF THE TURKISH WORKING CLASS
THE CAPITALISTS ARE NOT NEEDED, ALL FOR THE WORKING CLASS

http://icp.sol.org.tr/europe/pcpe-capitalists-are-not-needed-all-working-class

In fact, NATO is an imperialist military structure, which always behaves under the guidance of the great powers and the big capitalist monopolies, without any respect for any basic democratic law.

Nailed it.

Nailed it.

What is interesting to me is that a task that the Left has been somewhat remiss in undertaking -- updating/expanding/elaborating the theory of Imperialism to the period of the present day -- seems finally to be coming to the fore. It has taken not only the bitterest of setbacks but also an additional generation of separation in time/distance for this to happen. The reason this constitutes a strange state of affairs is that Imperialism has been THE defining issue for the entire 20th century..no?

A little self-reflection goes a long ways. But it needs to start coming in torrents rather than drips and drops.

To a large extent Lenin's theory has endured because it matches the evident reality of a sizable chunk of workers and other oppressed on the planet. It is more of a working definition that divides the world into oppressor vs oppressed. However, what served Lenin's purposes 100 years ago doesn't necessarily (fully) serve ours now. What is more, there seems to be a strange time warp in place whereby Lenin's theory is supposed to describe not 1916 but 2016. In the last 100 years EVERYTHING changed. How to reconcile these two seeming contradictions? Somewhere some wires are getting crossed..

Uncrossing the wires starts with a delineation between essence and form

(courtesy of our friendly neighborhood master of the Dark Arts)

If you think this line of inquiry can be deferred, minimized, or outright avoided, you are wrong (and not only on the subject of Imperialism).

What is interesting to me is that a task that the Left has been somewhat remiss in undertaking -- updating/expanding/elaborating the theory of Imperialism to the period of the present day -- seems finally to be coming to the fore. It has taken not only the bitterest of setbacks but also an additional generation of separation in time/distance for this to happen. The reason this constitutes a strange state of affairs is that Imperialism has been THE defining issue for the entire 20th century..no?

A little self-reflection goes a long ways. But it needs to start coming in torrents rather than drips and drops.

To a large extent Lenin's theory has endured because it matches the evident reality of a sizable chunk of workers and other oppressed on the planet. It is more of a working definition that divides the world into oppressor vs oppressed. However, what served Lenin's purposes 100 years ago doesn't necessarily (fully) serve ours now. What is more, there seems to be a strange time warp in place whereby Lenin's theory is supposed to describe not 1916 but 2016. In the last 100 years EVERYTHING changed. How to reconcile these two seeming contradictions? Somewhere some wires are getting crossed..

Uncrossing the wires starts with a delineation between essence and form

(courtesy of our friendly neighborhood master of the Dark Arts)

If you think this line of inquiry can be deferred, minimized, or outright avoided, you are wrong (and not only on the subject of Imperialism).

Russia is case in point, 2nd tier imperialist or comprador? Also Russia's USSR past makes it something of a special case.

Turkey's Foreign Policy Change Is Well Underway

Turkey is on its way to change its foreign policy orientation. Instead of facing "west" towards NATO and the pipe dream of European Union membership, it is looking "east" towards tighter cooperation with Russia, China and Iran. It will also want to intensify its already developed relations with the Central-Asian states Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

To cover the move, which began before the recent military coup attempt, the Turkish government needs some plausible excuses. The "guilty" party that justifies the change should not be itself but, preferably, its "western partners".

That the coup is probably related to covered activities of the Gülen movement in Turkey is a welcome gift. Turkey is convinced that the U.S. had some hand in the coup, or at least knew about it before it happened but did not warn Ankara. That the coup is U.S. related is not just a conspiracy theory without any basis. The tanker airplanes which filled up the F-16 bombers which bombed the parliament during the coup started from the NATO airbase in Incirlik where the U.S. command for the war on Syria is seated. Three of the regiments involved in the coup are part of NATO's rapid response force. One of the coup commanders was the head of the Turkish second army which is coordinating the war on Syria with the U.S. military.

Other signs, from the Turkish perspective, are the mealymouthed first statement Secretary of State Kerry gave when the coup was happening. From my live blogging of the coup before it started to fail:

Journo at ongoing Lavrov & Kerry press conference: "France, Belgium told their citizen in Turkey to stay at home." Lavrov: "Russian citizens should too."

2:11 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Talking Points Memo @TPM
#BREAKING John Kerry says he hopes for stability in Turkey as coup apparently under way http://bit.ly/29WqHS6

"Stability" - that's pro military coup talk ...

Kerry spoke diplomatese in support of the ongoing coup. Demanding "stability" instead of "democracy" or "respect of the legitimate government" was unlike to deter the coup plotters.

Today the Washington Post published an OpEd that seems to call for a new coup in Turkey. It gives advice on how to avoid the mistakes of the failed one.Turks will see this as ongoing U.S. plotting:

In Turkey, the coup plotters did not wait for a contentious election or a wave of popular discontent. Perhaps more patient and strategic organizers would have fared better.
The Turkish Sufi cult leader and preacher Fethullah Gülen resides in Pennsylvania from where he controls his world wide charter school empire and network. Gülen is rumored to be under control of the CIA. Two former high ranking CIA officers gave supporting statements for him in the 1990s when he requested residency in the U.S.

Turkey now demands Gülen's extradition. The evidence Turkey is giving for his culpability in the coup consists mostly of confessions of involved officers. These were given under somewhat coerced conditions. They are unlikely to be sufficient to convince the various interest groups in the U.S. to allow Gülen's extradition.

But that would fit Turkey's plans well. Should the U.S. not response positively to the request, Turkey will have good reason to lower its relation with the U.S. and with NATO. The Turkish Foreign Minister just called again for Gülen's fast extradition. Displaying national unity the leader of the opposition CHP party issued the same demand. This is thereby not just some crazy Erdogan buffoonery, but a request of the Turkish people. The U.S. will try to drag the issue out, but when even the Turkish opposition stands behind the demand it has little room to wiggle.

My prediction is that the U.S. will reject any extradition and that Turkey will use that to justify less amicable relations.

On the other side of the foreign policy turn are Russia and Iran. Both took an early and strong stand against the coup. Turkey explicitly thanked the Russian president Putin for his unconditioned support against the coup. (Unconfirmed reports say that Russia warned the Turkish government hours before the coup happened.) The Turkish President Erdogan will meet Putin in person on August 5. Turkey wants to "take relations with Russia to new level."

The Turkish ambassador in Tehran hailed Iran's support against the coup.

As precondition for better relations Russia (and Iran) demand that Turkey stops its support for Jihadists rebels in Syria. According to the Economist, Turkey is complying with that:

As Mr Erdogan focuses on the enemy within, he has tried to batten down what hatches he can, periodically closing the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, hitherto the prime supply route to Syria’s Sunni opposition-held territory.
...
A few rebels argue that as part of his counter-coup Mr Erdogan might yet project his Sunni triumphalism abroad and come to their rescue. But among exiled leaders in Gaziantep and the Americans co-ordinating their logistical backup, the mood is one of despondency. “It’s game over [for Syria’s rebels] already,” says one.
Also this from the Financial Times:

Syrian rebels said last week they noticed a drift in Ankara’s attention [...] Turkey was inactive as rebels struggled. [...] Usually, the Turks would be checking in a lot, meeting with commanders and making sure everyone is doing their jobs.
A split over Gülen with the U.S., better relations with Russia and Iran and less support for the Syrian "rebels" - Turkey's foreign policy change is well underway.

---

Al-Qaeda in Syria, know under the name Jabhat al-Nusra, has been fearing a tighter cooperation between Russia and the U.S. and an extensive bombing campaign against it (as demanded by two UNSC resolutions.) To avoid the damage, al-Qaeda is trying to trick the public.

Jabhat al-Nusra will rename itself to Jabhat Fath al Sham and will publicly reject all ties to al-Qaeda central (though not its aims). Jabhat al-Nusra has about 5,000 fighters, a third of which are foreigners. The group hopes that this move is enough to no longer be designated by the UN and the U.S. as "terrorist organization" and instead to be recognized as "moderate rebels". These fall under a ceasefire Russia and the U.S. had agreed upon. Jabhat's Gulf state sponsors had pressed for such a step for some time. One wonders what promises the U.S. made to further the move.

Will the Obama administration accept this fake name-change and defend it? Will it ask Russia to stop attacks on the newly disguised al-Qaeda? That would be highly embarrassing in my view. But as the U.S. is even defending its support for "moderate rebels" who behead sick children, it might as well openly support a slightly renamed al-Qaeda.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/07/turkeys-foreign-policy-change-is-well-underway.html

International Bulletin No5 [EN] [ES] [AR]
Español

Erdoğan declared three-month state of emergency in the aftermath of last week’s coup attempt.

Below are the interviews with Kemal Okuyan and Özlem Şen Abay on the issue:

[ES]

Kemal Okuyan (First Secretary of the CC of Communist Party, Turkey)

AKP continuously speaks of a second coup attempt. Do you think that they aim to reinforce their power and to abuse the coup or is there really a possibility of a second one?

KO: AKP has been confronted with a group which it had associated with for years. Nobody knows where this group starts or ends. Besides there are some other factions which joined them. When you add up the international dimensions it becomes a conjuncture which is prone to new coup attempts and interventions. On the other hand AKP seems to benefit from this tension. The people lose themselves amongst the factions. That’s why KP insists on emphasizing the class dimensions, points out the inner contradictions of the imperialist system. Those balances will shape the developments of the upcoming period. We can assume that the capitalist class will incras the interventions. Turkey will not conform to Erdoğan’s mind; Erdoğan will conform to the balances we’ve mentioned, or he’will be liquidated. Obviously this is a chaotic process, it will be tough. The important point is that the working class should show its weight.

How will KP act in those circumstances, how will be its political lines?

KO: KP has to accomplish multiple tasks as a whole. Firstly we have to convey the reality to the people, in order to prevent them to withdraw themselves in such a chaotic environment. Secondly, the contradiction of the classes should be kept visible while struggling with the islamist-fascist threat in Turkey. Neither of them is the leading actor; There is no way to stop islamism without struggling against the hegemony of the capital, which is already our essential task. The bourgeois way of laisizm has brought us to the point of a bloody fight between two imams. Our party is totally aware of the danger, it had always been, yet the biggest danger is pessimism which we shall not allow. We won’t let this happen. Apparently the international solidarity carries great importance in times like these. We have been receiving many solidarity and support messages -which, some of them started concrete and new collaborations- from communist parties of the world. Turkey possesses strategic importance for many regions. We will not let this country to be the toy of the competitive forces within the imperialists, the international monopolies. In Turkey the working class exists, this is a progressive asset. It is our Party’s responsibility to reveal this.



Özlem Şen Abay (Member of the CC of Communist Party, Turkey)

What does exactly that “State of emergency”issued by the Government mean? Why did they need it?

ÖŞA: It seems that Erdoğan has pushed the button of a comprehensive operation just after the coup attempt on July 15. It has been stated that the total number of people in custody is 10 thousand 410, so far. There are civil servants from the police forces, jurisdiction, universities and some other state institutions amongst those, not only the military members. Erdoğan has already asked for the resignation of all the Deans of all the universities, called off the annual leaves of the public employees and terminated the contracts of many civil servants. The State of Emergency is based on the Constitution and states as: “In the event of serious indications of widespread acts of violence aimed at the destruction of the free democratic order established by the Constitution or of fundamental rights and freedoms, or serious deterioration of public order because of acts of violence, the Council of Ministers, meeting under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic, after consultation with the National Security Council, may declare a state of emergency in one or more regions or throughout the country for a period not exceeding six months.” According to the Constitution when state of emergency is declared the President is assigned as the Chair and assigns the province governors with extraordinary authorities which allow them to intervene when required. Among those authorities there are measures like: declaring curfew; putting ban on meetings and rallies; intervening to the media and extending the custody periods. The “State of Emergency” becomes the name of the only solution Erdoğan and his Government could find out after they were left with no one to trust to. Yet we reckon that this would lead him to a bigger deadlock.

To what extent this would restrain the activities of KP?

ÖŞA: There are no restrictive clauses openly stated within the declaration of a State of Emergency regarding the activities of the political parties. Yet, during the state of emergency the Council of Ministers has the authority to decide Decree Laws which are not under control of jurisdiction. So, this is the actual situation where the ones who have the extraordinary authority could decide by their own intentions. Time will show how the activities of our party will be affected, in a period when Erdoğan's political actions get more oppressive and he continues with the one-man-domination kind of governance.



The latest figures from Turkey in the aftermath of the coup attempt and the state of emergency followed:



About 350 were killed.
2,200 were wounded.
8,000 police officers were detained or suspended.
7,423 soldiers were detained.
1,600 high-rank military officials were arrested.
122 generals and admirals were arrested (out of 358 in total in Turkish army).
60,000 staff in various governmental institutions were dismissed.
2,745 judges were dismissed.
1,577 deans were demanded resignation by Council of Higher Education.
21,000 teachers had licences removed.
15,000 were suspended from Ministry of Education.
936 private schools were closed.
449 student halls or dormitories were closed.
284 private education institutions were closed.
62 military high school students were arrested.
257 were fired from the Prime Minister’s Office.
100 intelligence officials were sacked.
47 district governors were dismissed.
30 provincial governors were dismissed.
20 news websites were blocked.
4 were arrested due to their anti-Erdoğan statements in social media.
14 were arrested because they opposed to pro-AKP demonstrations.
Academics and students on state scholarships were banned to leave the country and the ones who are already abroad were called back.

http://www.kp.org.tr/en/international-bulletin-no5-en-es-ar

Will Turkey exit NATO? Will the US allow Turkey to exit? If Turkey stays in NATO, there will be no rapprochement with Russia or Iran. How could there be? The US has a mess on its hands. The Baltic countries should look long and hard at what happens in Turkey - they are less than third-class citizens to NATO

Russia is case in point, 2nd tier imperialist or comprador? Also Russia's USSR past makes it something of a special case.

No, Russia is not the case in point. Imperialism is a POLITICAL theory. However, if it is monopoly (capital) that runs the world, then why do we need Marx at all? Everything essentially can be boiled down to monopoly rents and "by the sword" (ie political/military power) according to your conception. Which at the end of the day is simply a redux of the dictum that "property is theft". In which case, we don't need Marx but rather Proudhon.

In fact, we hardly need anything more than the international realist school of (bourgeois) political science. "Great powers" yadda yadda..

Marx, first and foremost, was a revolutionary and a CRITIC. Ruthless criticism of everything existing, remember? Believe in nothing except that which withstands/SURVIVES all withering criticism.

That is what the materialist approach to history looks like..

No, Russia is not the case in point. Imperialism is a POLITICAL theory. However, if it is monopoly that runs the world, then why do we need Marx at all? Everything essentially can be boiled down to monopoly rents and "by the sword" (ie political/military power) according to your conception. Which at the end of the day is simply a redux of the dictum that "property is theft". In which case, we don't need Marx but rather Proudhon.

In fact, we hardly need anything more than the international realist school of (bourgeois) political science. "Great powers" yadda yadda..

Marx, first and foremost, was a revolutionary and a CRITIC. Ruthless criticism of everything existing, remember? Believe in nothing except that which withstands all criticism.

That is what the materialist approach to history looks like..

It is a monopoly that would run the world and acts towards that goal. Which ain't sayin that the world ain't a lot more complicated than that.

(Huh, you must have edited while I've dawdled)

Just like old times... Why don't you explain to this Proudhonists?

It is a monopoly that would run the world and acts towards that goal. Which ain't sayin that the world ain't a lot more complicated than that.

(Huh, you must have edited while I've dawdled)



I edited slightly for emphasis and added a couple words for extra clarity.


Just like old times... Why don't you explain to this Proudhonists?

Ok. Engaging Mr Nice Guy (=asshole, but nice about it, when he can afford to be) mode. Remember, my job is not to be right on every point down the line. My job is to rile up the hornet's nest. If that involves pissing off every single person, so much the better because we can use all the vim and vigor we can get. (ps I've taken more than a fair share of lumps in this regard..I'm thick-headed). My anger lasteth but a minute..which is why I prefer to channel it alongside the wrath of billions more of my fellow wage slaves and otherwise oppressed.

Lenin focuses specifically on the export of capital as central to the Imperialist stage of capitalism. The rationale behind this is that "capital is unbounded but markets are not". However, it is not perfectly clear whether this logically produces Imperial relations directly or whether this is simply the hallmark of the OVERPRODUCTION of CAPITAL (which is very far from the same thing as the overproduction of commodities).

Consider two points:
1. Much of world exports consist of what would have to be termed "inter-imperialist trade"
2. Apple (surely there is no better exemplar of monopoly concentration of capital?) exports virtually no capital (outside of foreign sales). This is more the norm than the exception, it seems.

What to make of this?

(spoiler: this is the first of about a million contradictions I am going to throw out there in an attempt to break up every last prevailing idea you/we/I cobble together as a "worldview". In no way am I exempting myself from the process of breaking, beating up, and smashing everything)

I edited slightly for emphasis and added a couple words for extra clarity.



Ok. Engaging Mr Nice Guy (=asshole, but nice about it, when he can afford to be) mode. Remember, my job is not to be right on every point down the line. My job is to rile up the hornet's nest. If that involves pissing off every single person, so much the better because we can use all the vim and vigor we can get. (ps I've taken more than a fair share of lumps in this regard..I'm thick-headed). My anger lasteth but a minute..which is why I prefer to channel it alongside the wrath of billions more of my fellow wage slaves and otherwise oppressed.

Lenin focuses specifically on the export of capital as central to the Imperialist stage of capitalism. The rationale behind this is that "capital is unbounded but markets are not". However, it is not perfectly clear whether this logically produces Imperial relations directly or whether this is simply the hallmark of the OVERPRODUCTION of CAPITAL (which is very far from the same thing as the overproduction of commodities).

Consider two points:
1. Much of world exports consist of what would have to be termed "inter-imperialist trade"
2. Apple (surely there is no better exemplar of monopoly concentration of capital?) exports virtually no capital (outside of foreign sales). This is more the norm than the exception, it seems.

What to make of this?

(spoiler: this is the first of about a million contradictions I am going to throw out there in an attempt to break up every last prevailing idea you/we/I cobble together as a "worldview". In no way am I exempting myself from the process of breaking, beating up, and smashing everything)

Imperialism isn't just about imperial powers oppressing and exploiting lesser developed capitalist economies, it is also about the imperialist powers exploiting and oppressing each other, as well. A hundred years ago, this would devolve (or evolve) into world war, now it morphs into multiple imperial powers grappling over resources and exploitation of each others work forces, markets, and corporate arrays. There is a reason why the US, and to a lesser degree EU, goes for sanctions right off the bat - it's cheaper than military engagement and almost as lucrative, not to mention how damaging sanctions are to the sanctioned.

But in the grip of all this is the working class, of each nation individually, and internationally. How has its part changed in all this over the last 100 years?

Dhal, define "exploitation" (succinctly, no tangents to take things off course).

Imperialism isn't just about imperial powers oppressing and exploiting lesser developed capitalist economies, it is also about the imperialist powers exploiting and oppressing each other, as well. A hundred years ago, this would devolve (or evolve) into world war, now it morphs into multiple imperial powers grappling over resources and exploitation of each others work forces, markets, and corporate arrays.

Where does Marx reside in this explanation?

Where does Marx reside in this explanation?[/COLOR]

Actually, I got this from Lenin in his critique and opposition to Keivski (sp). It was in his section on national self-determination. The workers of both the oppressing nation and the oppressed are oppressed and exploited, but the workers of the oppressor nation benefit from the exploitation of the exploited nation. So the workers of the exploiter nation are obligated to support their counterparts in the oppressed nation in the right of self-determination. But the workers in the oppressed nation do not have the same imperative.

Both nations exploit their respective working classes, but the oppressor nation also exploits the bourgeoisie of the exploited nation. But it is a two way street as far as bourgeois exploitation of workers - the exploited bourgeoisie also exploit the workers of the oppressor nation, whenever given the opportunity. For instance, the US bourgeoisie exploit Mexico, top to bottom, but the Mexican bourgeoisie also exploit the Mexican worker. The US worker benefits from US exploitation of Mexico, but so does the Mexican bourgeoisie. And if any Mexican bourgeoisie lands in a position (through NAFTA, perhaps) to exploit US workers, this happens, as well.

This struck me as pertaining, but I could be wrong.

This struck me as pertaining, but I could be wrong.

Not arguing the merits of what you wrote. Only asking how Marx pertains to it.

Actually, I got this from Lenin in his critique and opposition to Keivski (sp). It was in his section on national self-determination. The workers of both the oppressing nation and the oppressed are oppressed and exploited, but the workers of the oppressor nation benefit from the exploitation of the exploited nation. So the workers of the exploiter nation are obligated to support their counterparts in the oppressed nation in the right of self-determination. But the workers in the oppressed nation do not have the same imperative.

Both nations exploit their respective working classes, but the oppressor nation also exploits the bourgeoisie of the exploited nation. But it is a two way street as far as bourgeois exploitation of workers - the exploited bourgeoisie also exploit the workers of the oppressor nation, whenever given the opportunity. For instance, the US bourgeoisie exploit Mexico, top to bottom, but the Mexican bourgeoisie also exploit the Mexican worker. The US worker benefits from US exploitation of Mexico, but so does the Mexican bourgeoisie. And if any Mexican bourgeoisie lands in a position (through NAFTA, perhaps) to exploit US workers, this happens, as well.

You know what this sounds like. Epicycles.

1. Much of world exports consist of what would have to be termed "inter-imperialist trade"
2. Apple (surely there is no better exemplar of monopoly concentration of capital?) exports virtually no capital (outside of foreign sales). This is more the norm than the exception, it seems.

We are considering China an imperial power? Possibly, and know them by their acts & all but the overlay of a grand NEP obscures. Also, is all of the shit coming out of China sub-contracted by Chinese owned companies? If a company builds factory overseas is that not export of capital? Seems like what car companies do & that amounts to something. Otherwise yes, inter-G10 account for bear's share.

We are considering China an imperial power? Possibly, and know them by their acts & all but the overlay of a grand NEP obscures. Also, is all of the shit coming out of China sub-contracted by Chinese owned companies? If a company builds factory overseas is that not export of capital? Seems like what car companies do & that amounts to something. Otherwise yes, inter-G10 account for bear's share.

Lets put the brakes on for a bit. We haven't even ventured a definition of "Imperialism" -- every question you ask begs 100 others. We need to start at the beginning. To be honest, there is quite a bit packed into the term "monopoly" that needs to be disentangled too. We need to start from the very beginning.

I realize "tabula rasa" is not the most appetizing approach but right now its not even clear there is any agreement or consensus on the facts of the case, let alone on core definitions.


We are considering China an imperial power?

Lets defer the meat of this for a little bit. I want to get back to the very astute reference Dhal made to Lenin's Critique of P Kievsky (which I don't think was ever published by Lenin due to circumstances of emigre exile but is available to us through his collected works). Think of the nation state as a broad formation/concentration of capital that achieve's its identity precisely through its national character (this is where SELF DETERMINATION comes in in Dhal's reference). The outward reach (which !== export) of this capital formation whereby it encounters the obstacle of other similarly constructed formations is the playing field for Imperialism. Workers exist/subsist within each nation state and are exploited (referring to EXTRACTION OF SURPLUS VALUE) by their "home bourgeoisie". Abstractly speaking, the superstructure of (bourgeois) civil society exists as an overlay that is inseparable from its given nation nation. We have to abstract here because otherwise we are looking at a dog's breakfast..that the dog just rolfed up.


Also, is all of the shit coming out of China sub-contracted by Chinese owned companies?

Not at all. Components come from everywhere (within the global south). However, the shit coming out of China (=assembled) tends to be sold by companies like..Apple.


If a company builds factory overseas is that not export of capital?

Apple builds no factory in China, Bangladesh or elsewhere.


Otherwise yes, inter-G10 account for bear's share.

The G-10 is oppressing itself? And far moreso than it is oppressing the global South? Wha....? Is that what you are claiming?

Actually, I got this from Lenin in his critique and opposition to Keivski (sp). It was in his section on national self-determination. The workers of both the oppressing nation and the oppressed are oppressed and exploited, but the workers of the oppressor nation benefit from the exploitation of the exploited nation. So the workers of the exploiter nation are obligated to support their counterparts in the oppressed nation in the right of self-determination. But the workers in the oppressed nation do not have the same imperative.

We need to hit material HARD because it is vital for any further analysis and underpins quite a bit more than how we conceptualize Imperialism.

We need to hit material HARD because it is vital for any further analysis and underpins quite a bit more than how we conceptualize Imperialism.[/COLOR]

Apple, Apple, Apple(speaking of which, where is that boy?), what of the automotive giants who build their factories everywhere? That ain't chopped liver.(Perhaps I'm too much old fart/hermit to comprehend Apple's importance because of personal irrelevance...)

Does trade automatically equate oppression? Mostly, but that seems largely internal to that nation and it's colonies/dependencies. And it pits the working class of the nations against each other, does that qualify as oppression?

And it pits the working class of the nations against each other, does that qualify as oppression?

I would say yes. Which is why Lenin (and Che) said the working class of imperial states have a special obligation.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/sep/00b.htm

One of the biggest things you have to get used to with Lenin is when he is talking and when he is voicing the attitude and thoughts of his opponent's.


One such form of oppression or repression of human thinking caused by the war is the contemptuous attitude of imperialist Economism towards democracy. P. Kievsky does not notice that running like a red thread through all his arguments is this war-inspired oppression, this fear, this refusal to analyse. What point is there in discussing defence of the fatherland when we are in the midst of such a terrible holocaust? What point is there in discussing nations’ rights when outright strangulation is everywhere the rule? Self-determination and “independence” of nations—but look what they have done to “independent” Greece! What is the use of talking and thinking of “rights”, when rights are every where being trampled upon in the interests of the militarists! What sense is there in talking and thinking of a republic, when there is absolutely no difference whatsoever between the most democratic republics and the most reactionary monarchies, when the war has obliterated every trace of difference!

Kievsky is very angry when told that he has given way to fear, to the extent of rejecting democracy in general. He is angry and objects: I am not against democracy, only against one democratic demand, which I consider “bad”. But though Kievsky is offended, and though he “assures” us (and himself as well, perhaps) that he is not at all “against” democracy, his arguments—or, more correctly, the endless errors in his arguments—prove the very opposite.

Defence of the fatherland is a lie in an imperialist war, but not in a democratic and revolutionary war. All talk of “rights” seems absurd during a war, because every war replaces rights by direct and outright violence. But that should not lead us to forget that history has known in the past (and very likely will know, must know, in the future) wars (democratic and revolutionary wars) which, while replacing every kind of “right”, every kind of democracy, by violence during the war, nevertheless, in their social content and implications, served the cause of democracy, and consequently socialism. The example of Greece, it would seem, “refutes” all national self-determination. But if you stop to think, analyse and weigh matters, and do not allow yourself to be deafened by the sound of words or frightened and oppressed by the nightmarish impressions of the war, then this example is no more serious or convincing than ridiculing the republican system because the “democratic” republics, the most democratic—not only France, but also the United States, Portugal and Switzerland—have already introduced or are introducing, in the course of this war, exactly the same kind of militarist arbitrariness that exists in Russia.

That imperialist war obliterates the difference between republic and monarchy is a fact. But to therefore reject the republic, or even be contemptuous towards it, is to allow oneself to be frightened by the war, and one’s thinking to be oppressed by its horrors. That is the mentality of many supporters of the “disarmament” slogan (Roland-Hoist, the younger element in Switzerland, the Scandinavian “Lefts”[2] (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/sep/00b.htm#fwV23E018) and others). What, they imply, is the use of discussing revolutionary utilisation of the army or a militia when there is no difference in this war between a republican militia and a monarchist standing army, and when militarism is every where doing its horrible work?

Turkish Communist Party: Critical Questions on the Recent Coup Attempt and its Aftermath
Posted by ÁLVARO D’ESCOTO on AUGUST 1, 2016

https://www.kp.org.tr/sites/default/files/field/image/kpmay.png

The coup attempt and the continuing dispute in its aftermath was not only the concern of Turkey but of the workers’ and communist parties all over the world. Definitely, the course of the events should be considered regarding the class struggle in Turkey but at the same time that very coup attempt also referred to the class struggle around the world, indicating the relentless rivalry and weaknesses within the imperialist order.
In order to share with the international communist movement, the International Relations Bureau of the Communist Party,Turkey has prepared an analysis which consists of 10 critical questions on recent coup attempt and its aftermath in Turkey.
The following International Bulletin of the Communist Party,Turkey will answer these questions:
1- Who were the plotters of the coup attempt?
2-What was the aim of the coup attempt?
3- Were there any chance for the attempt to be successful?
4 – What is the place of Gulen movement in the history of Turkey?
5 – Is it possible for capitalism and bourgeois politics in Turkey to normalize in near future?
6 – Is it possible for Turkey to shift toward the Russia-Iran axis?
7- Is there a connection between the NATO Summit that took place this summer in Warsaw on July 8-9 and the military coup attempt in Turkey one week after the Summit?
8- Can AKP and Erdogan succeed a restoration after the partial liquidation of the state?
9- Is the future for Turkey an islamist dictatorship led by Erdoğan?
10- Are there any opportunities for a working class politics in Turkey as it is today?
The International Relations Bureau regards the perspectives from the international communist movement, and will be expecting contributions and questions which will be involved in further analysis.
The contact address is as follows: int@kp.org.tr
Download in other languages >>
International Bulletin of Communist Party, Turkey No6
Critical questions on recent coup attempt and its aftermath in Turkey
Who were the plotters of the coup attempt?
It would be better to answer this question in two parts: the processes which led to the coup attempt, and the very night of July 15th. It was apparent that the operational actors were the soldiers acquiring different level ranks from various Services of the Turkish Armed Forces, including full generals. The soldiers who were directly involved in the coup attempt took the Commanders of the Forces, as well as the Chief of Defence, hostage; had a raid to the hotel where Erdoğan situated by special forces and then followed his plane by F16 fighter planes; held air strikes aimed the locations of the Special Police Forces, Directorate General of Security and the National Intelligence Organization in Ankara; bombed the Parliament buildings; restricted the access to the Bosphorus Bridge in İstanbul and controlled the air traffic over the city by fighter planes for hours.
It is true that, in order to be able to accomplish such a combat, there have to be a serious number of commanders and sophisticated officers who are present by their own consents, besides the ones who act orderly. It is already known that the majority of the officers involved in the attempt were the members of the Gülenist movement, yet, when the several inconsistencies of the day of July the 15th concerned, the presence of some non-Gülenist officers and bureaucrats, who could be considered taking part in one way or another, stand out.
At this point the prior issues which led to the coup attempt should be referred to.
There seem to be many and various actors, other than the plotters, who would have been happy with the success of the attempt. It has to be recalled that the capitalists of Turkey have sponsored Gülen while he was growing strong internationally. There is the fact that the Gülen schools which raise pro-American reactionary cadres, TUSKON-the Gülenist confederation of Turkish businessmen and industrial capitalists, and other establishments and organizations of Gülenist movement have had various types of relationships with almost all the parts of the bourgeois actors in Turkey since 1990s. Moreover, Gülenists being a first hand part of the capitalist class of Turkey, they have been involved in various types of collaborations with other capitalists over the years. On the other hand, there are allegations pointing how the bourgeois opposition sought for ways of cooperation with the Gülen movement, including alliances in the elections in the hope of controlling AKP and Erdoğan since 2014.
Lastly the international actors of this non-fictional and from some aspects professionally plotted coup attempt have to be listed. The statements coming from Europe and the USA on the night of July 15 until the probable end of the coup attempt was clear, did not indicate an apparent refusal of the plotters. All through that night the information released by international sources like Reuters and the think-tank Stratfor, proved that it was not only some group of Gülenist military officers possessed the intelligence of the coup attempt.
Additionally, although not confirmed officially, there is the news about the US airbase in İncirlik had served for the attempt. The facts that Fethullah Gülen has been accommodating and being politically active in US and his known links with the CIA reinforce the allegations regarding the supportive role of the some group of forces from the USA for the coup attempt.
Although all these detections depend on factual information and observations, we have to consider the inconsistencies and the oddity of all the course of events. The only unconditional truth about the actual plotters is that they share the exact ideology and class position with the AKP government and carry pro-American and anti-popular identities.
What was the aim of the coup attempt?
The coup attempt did not aim a Gülenist government, as some believe. The main target of the attempt was Erdoğan and his close staff, in other words, it was the AKP ruled by Erdoğan.
If this purge would had been realised, the politics in Turkey would be proceeded with an AKP government without Erdoğan, supported by all the other bourgeois political groups. So we have to rephrase the question: Why was Erdoğan aimed to be purged?
The answer of this question lies within the political past of Turkey.
The AKP was formulated at the beginning of the 2000s by the capitalist class of Turkey, to serve the formation of a new model of capitalist accumulation in Turkey and the integration process of the country into the imperialist order. AKP had been founded in alliance with the Gülenist movement which had been an operational tool for the USA and the islamist groups reconciled with imperialism and capitalists.
Having been in power for 15 years, this alliance almost totally has eliminated the secular order; completed the full privatization of the public enterprises and attacked the organised parts of the working class. In 2011, AKP seized full control of the state by eliminating all the resisting points.
Yet, the alliance between the AKP led by Erdoğan and the Gülen movement started to shake after 2011 and turned into a conflict since 2013. It was already the year 2009 when Wikileaks released the Stratfor foresight telling about a possible faction between AKP and Gülen movement.
The transformation in Turkey had led changes in the model of the accumulation of capital and the composition of the capitalist class. The capitalists of Turkey, who had accumulated large amounts from the privatizations, had started to export capital and had headed towards to secure those investments politically as well. The interests of the capitalists required relations with Russia and Iran on mutual interests without growing distant from the NATO and USA.
The strategic agreement on the natural gas pipeline with Russia had been signed in that sense. This would provide a line for Russian natural gas to Europe through Turkey. Besides, Turkey needed natural gas from Iran and Russia. The Russian market was an opportunity for the capitalists of Turkey. On the other hand, Russia was actively involved in political tactics which would drive Turkey out of the USA and EU alliances, and this was partly getting reciprocity.
This bourgeois policy of keeping balances started to be represented in Erdoğan himself. As a once more the bourgeois policy, the expansionism of Turkey led to independent yet unsuccessful moves which annoyed Turkey’s allies involved in USA’s plot on Syria.
However US, whose military containment policy towards Russia has been getting tenser rapidly, cannot tolerate an indecisive ally who acts double sided.
There have been an anti-Erdoğan campaign which started way before the coup attempt but has been intensified recently, in the imperialist press. Although that campaign had mottos like “democracy and the freedom of press”, it was obvious that they aimed to create a stable and docile Turkey.
We very well know that the aim of the coup was neither “secularism” nor “freedom”. The coup attempted to secure the interests of the USA and EU imperialisms and the purge of Erdoğan, which had been attempted before with several other ways but had not been succeeded.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2016/08/01/turkish-communist-party-critical-questions-on-the-recent-coup-attempt-and-its-aftermath/

Kemal Okuyan: "The real threat of Turkey is the bourgeoisie. The big monopolies are the biggest crime organizations"

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xnm5MpOTYsA/VxX0Scl8n7I/AAAAAAAAAlk/KlD4E2z5jMkOKtVsC4elWAMH-b_x1U2VgCPcB/s1600/Kemal%2BOkuyan.jpg

In the following days of the 15th July coup attempt in Turkey, the Communist Party, Turkey released numerous statements and analysis regarding the situation in the country and the immediate agenda of the class struggle in Turkey. The following is a commentary by the First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey, Kemal Okuyan which composes KP's recent line of politics.

Source: International Communist Press.
Kemal Okuyan.

The Gulenists had seized the state. This is what they say. But, the picture shows that the Gulenists are in some extent the state itself. ‘Seizing’ does not, and cannot, correspond to reality. The truth is totally the opposite.

I shall not repeat how and why the Gulenist movement had increased its influence, as we have talked and written a lot about this issue.

But I shall reverse the above question and thus focus on the answer of the following one: What and who is the state?

Marxists have long debated on topics like, which mechanisms attribute class character to the state; how the state serves the interests of the ruling class; in this process to what extent the state is capable of creating an autonomous area and how the apparatus of the state, in the existing context, will fade with the annihilation of all classes. There is a whole and very valuable sum of writings to comprehend and analyse the complicated structure of the state.

The state is complicated but in another perspective, very simple. Beginning from the current social reality, the state serves the interests of the bourgeoisie. The reason for all the effort done to convince us for the ‘sacredness of the state’, is to conceal the above fact; to make the wide social masses believe that the state represents not only one class or group but all the citizens.

Well then, is ‘sacredness’ not related with the will of the state for self-continuity? Is there not some truth in attributing ‘political wisdom’ to the state to emphasise this continuity?

The concepts are important. The ‘wise state’ has a positive meaning, while the ‘deep state’ negative! This is what people do, swearing at NATO and CIA, while praising the American democracy. If the ‘deep state’ is a corrupted institution so must be the ‘the wisdom of the state’. Detesting the CIA but worshiping the government of Obama is an unconceivable and foolish attitude.

Let us get deeper into the concept of ‘political wisdom’ and try to find the meaning wanted to be attributed on. Let us focus on the case of the Republic of Turkey. In this country since 1923, ‘political wisdom’ has been attributed to the cadres who, whatever the situation, were keeping their consistency and linking again and again the changing circumstances to the founding philosophy of the republic. For some people these cadres consisted of a small clique, while others pointed at an unsurpassable operational system, which also included the superior officials of the state. In a certain period, ‘political wisdom’ was personified by the Turkish Armed Force (TAF), but after the 15thof July this myth ended.

Actually the ’political wisdom’ is not other than the mechanism, which ensures capitalism in total and its continuance in the existing world system. We may come to this same conclusion beginning from the issue of continuity. Throughout the history of the Turkish Republic many governments have changed, military coups had occurred, social mobilizations and uprisings had taken place and the political arena in general has been unstable and full of surprises. But in each case and example the interests of the big capital, the power of the monopolies, the capital owners have been protected. Capitalism, by nature, cannot be recovered, cannot be purified from its own self-contradictions, both in national and international scale. Throughout our history the capital owners have been ruling.

This is what ‘political wisdom’ suggests. The ‘deep state’, on the other hand, consists of the extraordinary mechanisms, which are activated for the maintenance of the capitalist system when the entirely unjust juridical plane is not enough.

In other words…

There is no meaning in mystifying ‘political wisdom’ and ‘deep state’. The real picture, with all its nakedness, is there: the capital!

The Gulenists, the nationalists, the Kemalists or the neo-liberals, it doesn’t matter, civil or military bureaucrats of different ideological orientation have been thinking themselves as possessors of ‘political wisdom’. This is an inevitable but on the other hand, insignificant fact. There are limits into what extent the different orientations of the bureaucracy can change the course of things, except in the case of a revolution that intervenes to the class character of the sovereignty. And looking at the general picture we can clearly say that the capital is ruling.

Today, one month after the military coup attempt these statements are especially very important. The ‘political wisdom’ suggests that the Gulenists have been manipulated by global forces. In other words, they want us to believe the association of ‘political wisdom’ with this suggestion. In an aspect this is right, in another totally wrong.

These forces are defined as ‘global’ because they want us to believe that the domestic forces of the Said Nursi sect and their modern derivatives, the Gulenists, are foreign elements of the internal dynamics of the country. Whereas in Turkey Fethullah Gulen is ‘global’ to the same extent with the so-called ‘national forces’ of capitalism.

They tell us that the Gulenists are directly an operational apparatus of CIA. That may be true and has become more obvious in the recent years. But what CIA has been doing all this time?

Just to give an example, it has been doing the same as CNN! Its main mission is to supress and even extinguish the labour and its political agent, socialism, from the international arena.

This time it will be alleged that CIA serves the interests not only of the international monopolies but also of the American imperialism; that is hundred per cent right.

But at this point we have to ask this question: How the military, economic, political and cultural institutions and mechanisms that clearly defend the interests of the American imperialism have influence on Turkey? Was the network of Fethullah Gulen, expanding from TAF to the police force, from jurisdiction to diplomacy, from education to health system and from industry to trade, created by American agents or by the bog of capitalism itself?

Fethullah Gulen and similar networks tried to penetrate to Cuba. What prevented them? Of course, the social system of Cuba!

Let us not deceive each other, the Gulenists are pro-americans, the operational apparatus of CIA but their power come from the greed of the bourgeoisie for profit and the effort to sustain its power.

On July 15, the state was shaken, dashed and in some institutions totally canceled out. But since July 16, the state of emergency declared to restructure the state or to ‘cleanse’ the Gulenists, is not marked by the purge in TAF or the jurisdiction, but it was marked by the opportunities offered to the bourgeoisie.
The President of the Republic saved his life at the last minute, the parliament was bombed, thousands of government officials were arrested, ten thousands were laid off but looking at the regulations we see the capital owners possessing a central position. The number of the regulations which were passed this last month for the interest of the bourgeoisie, are equal to the regulations passed this last decade! Under each decree, each law, which comes in the name of ‘national consensus’, we can see the barbaric assault of the market forces.

Dreadful. Even more damaging than the military coup attempt of the Gulenists!

There is clear opportunism in the disseise, in the suspension of the law through arrests and detentions and in the meanwhile no one is interested with the economic ‘measures’ which are enforced one after the other. I say enforced because if you take a look to the busy traffic in the triangle among the presidential palace, parliament and the “business world”, you will see that I am right.

The government wing after the big plot, is providing its unconditional loyalty to the bourgeoisie as the best way to assure itself.

In the process of the restructure of the state, the perspective of the ‘privatized state’ is dominating. Therefore the belief that the authority of Erdogan has been strengthened will encourage him to take big risks, but this will make Erdogan more controllable and even create mechanisms that degrade him to a simple agent.

When a crime organization is caught up in the act and crucified, the real collective crime organization is pushing with all its power in the interest of the bourgeoisie against the public interest and labour rights.

I have to immediately tell that this is a transitional period. Turkey may, in short time, be shocked by new assaults. But the bourgeoisie is protecting its interests in every condition.

The real threat of Turkey is the bourgeoisie. The big monopolies are the biggest crime organizations, the most dangerous network.

What we cannot watch in the TV’s are the confessions of this organization. The repentant Gulenists, the ‘deep’ and ‘shallow’ agents, the military officials who have been trialed unjustly in the past (‘Balyoz trials’), the exorcist sect leaders, all talk, but, no one talks about the mean class which possesses the key positions in the country.

On 4th September, we will be meeting in Kartal, Istanbul to demonstrate also against this class."
Αναρτήθηκε από In Defense of Communism

http://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2016/08/kemal-okuyan-real-threat-of-turkey-is.html

http://www.kp.org.tr/sites/default/files/field/image/communist_party_21092014_ankara_solidarity_march_with_van_iskur_workers_3.jpg
Increasing oppression against the Communist Party, leftists and the working class in Turkey [ES] [RU]

Turkey has witnessed a failed coup attempt in which some major Gülenist were involved and was backed up by the US and EU imperialism on 15th of July. The AKP government has declared state of emergency after that.

Currently, Erdoğan and the government act with the fear of another coup or purge threat and this fear reflects to the political environment. More than 60 thousand people has been suspended from public work, and some part of them has been detained with the allegation of being Gülenists. That was the biggest purge and split within the state in the history of the Republic of Turkey. Yet, there has been no relief on the AKP front.

On the other hand,being a representative of the capital class of Turkey, AKP benefitted the state of emergency for its hostile acts on working class and class antagonism.

In the course of last two months AKP government carried on a comprehensive purge with the excuse of struggling with the terrorism of Gülen movement. Almost 14 thousand teachers dismissed from public schools, including some progressive and leftist people. In academia total of 2346 scholars have been expelled with an extraordinary decree. There were also progressive and leftist academicians amongst those who were sacked from university jobs.

In many industrial disputes the workers were oppressed and/or sacked, using the state of emergency as an excuse in favour of the capitalists. Strikes were suspended, workers were attacked by the police.

And recently, we have been witnessing increasing oppression against the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) and other left movements via the police and jurisdiction.

Ten KP members were taken into custody while they were handing out publications of the Party in Adana. The political activity of the young communists of the high schools ended with police custody also in Adana.

The imprisonment verdict for 45 university students, who were involved in protests, long before the coup attempt, against Erdoğan, has been declared only last week.

http://www.kp.org.tr/sites/default/files/images/2016/09/28/img_2071_f.jpg

http://www.kp.org.tr/sites/default/files/images/2016/09/28/20160730181904_img_5791.jpg

KP, as being the vanguard of the working class, is maintaining its struggle against all the oppression and injustice decisively by taking the capitalist class and its representatives as opponents. The handing out of the publications and all the activities of the Party are being pursued militantly all over Turkey.

KP is reacting the deep crises which was created by the capital class and the imperialists by getting stronger via organising.

http://www.kp.org.tr/sites/default/files/images/2016/09/28/img_2572.jpg

http://www.kp.org.tr/en/international-bulletin-no13-en-es-ru

"Yetmez ama hayır!": Communists in Turkey headed into the streets, raising the voice of "No"

Report from soL international.

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While Turkey prepares for the referendum on April 16, the Governorship of Istanbul banned the rally of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) that was scheduled to be held on April 8 in Istanbul, claiming there was no adequate police force. On the call of the party, thousands of people headed into street across the country on April 8 to show that the government will not be able to silence the voice of the working people.

TKP members and the friends of the party came together in many cities with the party’s weekly journal ‘Boyun Eğme’ (Do Not Surrender). Those who say "Not Enough but No!" distributed tens of thousands of election bulletins of TKP.

Trade unionists, intellectuals, artists and journalists also attended in the campaign that attracted great interest from the citizens.

Simultaneously with the campaign in Turkey, members of TKP, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) and its youth organisation CJC came together in front of Turkey’s Consulate in Barcelona to distribute "Not Enough but No" bulletins.

Turkish voters will go to the polls on April 16, for a controversial referendum that could expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"MORE SEVERE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKING CLASS AFTER REFERENDUM".

Workers of Ankara met at a panel held by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) in Ankara on the upcoming presidential referendum.

Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) central committee members Erhan Nalçacı and Özgür Şen attended the panel as speakers.

As the first speaker of the panel, Erhan Nalçacı elaborated on the final crisis phase of capitalism since the last decades with no sign of the exit. He stated that Turkish capitalism tried to find solutions to this crisis in the 1980s with the September 12 military coup and January 24 neoliberal economic policy plan; in 1990s with Kemal Derviş, the minister of Economy then; and finally in 2002 with Justice and Development Party (AKP). Although each period was marked by different political stances, Nalçacı said, each of them was stench public enemies.

Nalçacı added that the existing social order necessitates authoritarianism. Marked by privatism and anti-enlightenment, the regime itself necessitates despotism, one-man-rule, neo-Ottomanism and reactionism, Nalçacı said.

Commenting upon the recent military intervention of the US to Syria, Nalçacı said that the working class should never be a part of imperialist wars and thus should get rid of the dominant class.
He called on the working class to get organised within the ranks of the working class party for an organised and purposeful no vote in the upcoming presidential referendum.

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REFERENDUM IS A GAMBLE FOR ERDOĞAN.

Özgür Şen, the other speaker of the panel, noted that although the general public opinion has been waiting for the referendum as a solution for the atmosphere of uncertainty in Turkey, the referendum result will not be a final answer for that.

He reminded that the uncertainty is related to the crisis of capitalism in Turkey, and imperialism itself that is expected to solve the crisis of Turkey also undergoes similar uncertainties.

"If the route of Turkish bourgeoisie were clear, and there were no political tensions with imperialist centres, there would be no uncertainty in Turkey", Şen said, adding that that's why Erdoğan is taking this gamble of the referendum.

The referendum itself is a challenge for Erdoğan, Şen said, and will not be an answer for the crisis of capitalism in Turkey. Although there will be a huge difference between yes and no results in the referendum, the result will not resolve the crisis of capitalism, he said.

Commenting on the "No" campaign of the Communist Party of Turkey, Şen said that the communists have been campaigning for a no vote in the referendum from the heart, as opposed to other mediocre no vote campaigns. The difference mainly stems from the political stance of the communists pointing at the uncertainties awaiting the post-referendum phase, he said, and the communists are not afraid of struggling with those uncertainties. No result will ease working class struggle in Turkey and yet it will not be enough, he added.

Özgür Şen said that the no campaign of the communists have been systematically and deliberately restrained because TKP has been trying to minimise the uncertainties of the post-referendum phase. He added that the communists will try to direct a possible no result in the referendum to proper channels. A possible yes result will not solve any problem of the AKP government, Şen said, adding that it will cause an irresolvable social tension in Turkey.

Reminding the "not enough, but no" slogan of TKP, Özgür Şen said that yes result will not be enough for the AKP government just like a no result will not be enough for the communists. In the post-referendum phase, more intense and severe opportunities will arise for the working class, Şen said, adding that the working class will keep searching for revolutionary opportunities.

*Yetmez ama hayır!: Not enought but No!.

https://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2017/04/yetmez-ama-hayr-communists-in-turkey.html

Theses and tasks of TKP: Erdogan, capitalism and imperialist contradictions

THESES and TASKS of the COMMUNIST PARTY of TURKEY.

On the Presidency, the orientation of the capitalism in Turkey and the contradictions with in the imperialist world.
January 2017.

1. It should be mentioned the issue of Erdogan rather than the issue of executive presidency. So far the presidency agenda in Turkey has gone beyond the capitalist class’s search for power and stability. The concept of presidency has contracted into just one leader, whose file has been filling up every single day he stays in power, and the interests of a gang which has been dragged after him.

2. In addition to this, the infrastructure of the constitution proposal which has been formed for transition to presidency, is full of regulations which lead to the lessening of the control over the governments and the degrading of the role of the general assembly after the 12th September 1980 coup, and the political parties in general. All of these regulations have been realised with the guidance of the imperialist countries and the monopoly capital. The legal and actual extortion of the rights of the labouring classes, the plundering of the national sources, and the continuous privatizations have been eased by those regulations. Therefore, Erdogan has been working hard to fully open the gate, which the capitalists of Turkey have already left ajar.

3. In actual fact, using the process of “state of emergency”, which is constantly being lengthened, Erdogan is already using every opportunity which he tries to achieve with the constitutional amendment. Currently there is no institution or mechanism which actually controls or limits the President of the Republic of Turkey now. The problem is with Erdogan, who cannot feel safe and is in constant search for a legal pledge for removing his fragility. It was the same worry which was present in 2014, when he transferred from being Prime Minister to President of the Republic. The Presidency wouldn’t clear away Erdogan’s worries, but would provide a better security.
4.That security should not be considered only in legal terms. Being a leader who has poll support, Erdogan is quite sure about using his presidency for the political moves. Although he has been confined deeply, Erdogan would not leave his ideological references and keep a moderate line. Moreover, the need to keep the social support behind him, necessitates an aggressive manner ideologically and culturally.
5. Yet, the biggest deadlock for Erdogan is the additional threat generated by the goal of presidency, even if it is achieved. Every step Erdogan takes to secure or reinforce his position, intensifies the attacks towards him. What is more, those attacks are not generated from an effective single center in USA, as many might assume. Some, who do not prefer Erdogan’s purge and who had helped him in critical moments, would not prefer an Erdogan equipped with presidency but an Erdogan who is doomed. No matter how Erdogan showed off as a leader resisting in the aftermath of the 15th July coup attempt, he was actually someone who was weakened from inside, had lost his existence references and left alone. That is why the presidency would empower Erdogan against the ones who are currently looking after him.
6. Even so, Erdogan has concerns in two issues. The first one is about the attacks coming from the USA, which previously supported Erdogan in his political career, and the other NATO countries. After appearing in 2011 for the first time, these attacks have been escalated gradually. The coup attempt at 15th July proved the extend to which those USA centred operations could expand. The fact that the terrorist attacks, the political siege an the economic operations towards Turkey have been originated from imperialist centers, is now apparent.
7. Erdogan’s other concern is the existence of the opposition with in the society, which seems to be crouched down for now, yet accumulating anger and rage incrementally. The making up of this sectors of the society with Erdogan is almost impossible. Besides, Erdogan is a politician who knows well the methods of the imperialists to manipulate and guide the opponent social groups. Although the June Movement in 2013 proved the limits of this ability and the fact that he can be desperate against the smallest indication of the revolutionary forces’ ideological and physical weight, it is apparent that Turkey has become open to the intervention of the imperialist centers. On the one hand, Erdogan fears that the “left” lead the oppositionin the society, on the other hand, he is concerned about the same groups to be drawn into the scope of influence of the international forces.
8. At this very point the motives from which the international actors are inspired when they first intended to control and then when became unsuccessful to overthrow Erdogan, should be clarified. The factors which took the USA from the point of supporting Erdogan unconditionally to leaving him alone with a coup attempt are as follows:
- It is always possible that the polarising style of Erdogan to cause uncontrollable consequences. The June Movement in 2013 is the best example of how the international monopoly capital cannot trust its ability to manipulate the people of Turkey for its interest easily. We know that the capitalist class, leading imperialist countries and some groups within the State in Turkey have intervened in various ways to pull the people’s movement into a liberal axis but did not succeed during the June Movement. This was the reason why they tried to reach the conclusion by pacifying the people through burying their anger to the tape recordings and the polls immediately after the resistance.
- Considering that an Islamist political party was deployed in line with the regional plans of the imperialists, the Arab Spring started from Turkey in a sense and ended up with the failure of Turkey. The sudden failure of an operation upon which the USA had had expectations and had taken risks, removed Erdogan’s trustworthiness substantially. Erdogan not only miscalculated things in Syria but also ended with something which the USA would never wanted; which caused Russia to gain more significance.
- Erdogan’s personal style, which did not bother anyone much when everything was fine, started to be a serious issue when the imperialist system is in crisis and the contradictions are intensifying. The USA and the other imperialist countries are battling to bear a “leader” who performs unforeseeable acts and behaviours and never loses his trustworthiness on the side of his supporters.
- The contradictions within the imperialist system provides extra room for Erdogan. The increasing possibility of the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, is not only the consequence of the emerging weakness in the NATO alliance but also the chaos which destroys and reconstructs the existing alliances globally. In those circumstances it is inevitable that Erdogan to annoy the USA whose hegemony is at stake.
- The project of moderate Islam, has faced the deadlock we have been telling since the beginning. The politicization of Islam cannot follow a moderate path. It is absurd to believe that the “moderate” and “radical” components, which were unearthed by the USA and NATO by help of Turkey, would be easily controlled, when the international system has been shaken this much. Today, although the USA and the others still have their influence on a significant part of those components, it is impossible that the rapidly politicized Islam not to cause extra trouble in the USA and the EU.
- From the perspective of the USA and NATO, an actor who does not obey and what’s worse who resist the interventions, in a country, which is an ally and a candidate for the EU, shows asa negative example and also ruins the hierarchy identified with the USA. The idea, which indicates the limits of both economic and political autonomy of a NATO ally, has been destroyed seriously.
9. The expectation that international pressure over Erdogan would lessen with the election of Trump undoubtedly had warranty. The USA’s outlook on political government in Ankara underwent a negative transformation during Obama period and nobody expected Hillary Clinton to reverse the trend of worsening relationships in case of her election. Let alone, the relationship between Clinton’s team and Gulen organization, which is used in covert operations not only in Turkey but also in many countries, was strong. All the same, developments in USA to relieve Erdogan does not seem possible in short range. Above all, it is unthinkable for the new USA administration to let go of NATO or to be a mere spectator of the axial dislocation which will strengthen Russia’s hand. In this sense, Erdogan will not be a dependable actor from the point of NATO. Additionally, presidential election did not annihilate uncertainty in USA, on the contrary, it sharpened a struggle within USA which has international dimensions as well. The harsh fight between Trump who in order to overcome the worsening problems of USA capitalism took the support of monopolies feeling discomfort with those problems even more and the capitalist groups which uses the military hegemony of USA for enormous profits depending on an irrational economic model and their extensions among civil-military bureaucracy may reverberate over Turkey in forms that are never predicted by Erdogan. Lastly, the close relations of Fethullah supporters to some critical names from Trump’s team is disappointing in the sense of a mentality searching for a “FETO” (Fethullah Organization) scorpion under every stone.
10. This harsh struggle in USA cannot be thought independently from the internal contradictions in the imperialist system and the ongoing hegemonic crisis. The instability in the USA economy has intensified the movements inevitably enforced by the uneven development law within the hierarchy which this country institutionalized in capitalist world after World War II. This is one of the factors that extend Erdogan’s political life. The USA has difficulty in maintaining its hegemony but neither the European Union centered in Germany nor Russia is in position to solve this hegemony problem yet. It is quite suspicious even for the People’s Republic of China which is evaluated as closest to challenge the USA hegemony to carry such a claim right now. This situation results in changes one after another within the current alliance systems. Right now, on the one hand, the way Erdogan pursuits while seeking for an individual outlet coincides in some aspects with Turkey’s bourgeoisie chasing for new possibilities in an environment of ongoing sharing fight, on the other hand, the bourgeois class feels the need to put on the brakes in some examples worrying about the incalculable moves of this unlicensed team of Erdogan.
11. It should be known that there are restrictions to the help presented by Russian Federation to Erdogan in such an atmosphere. It is not easy for Turkish capitalism to disengage from NATO alliance economically or politically and settle into Eurasia axis.
- The contradictions among the countries that are said to create the Eurasia axis are not less in density than the contradictions within the NATO alliance. It is obvious that collaboration between Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China is not dependent on friendship and trust. It is observed that Trump is going to develop a strategy to destroy this collaboration. Iran’s relationships to Russian Federation as an important country for Turkey is also becoming more and more problematic. When it comes to BRICS (Brasil, Russia, India, People’s Republic of China, and South African Republic) presented as the global reflection of Eurasia mechanics, it has turned into a phenomenon whose reality is questioned with the last developments in Brazil.
- There are restrictions to what can economically be presented by Russian Federation to Turkish capitalism. What is at issue here is not a country that is at the starting point of its capitalist development. We have to speak about an advanced capitalist class and a economic substructure in Turkey. Only one part of the external source dimension of needs that result from current structure of the economy can be met by the economy of Russian Federation which cannot get rid of imbalances.
- The relationship of Turkish bourgeoisie to the NATO countries like Germany, the USA, France, Britain has passed beyond being economic, political or cultural and reached the kinship level by means of “planned” marriages all through generations. It is hard for Erdogan’s desire to save from enclosure and intervention addressed to him and new possibilities whetting the appetite of Turkish bourgeoisie to sever those strong connections.
- The pan-Islamism, which Erdogan do not and cannot give up, does not overlap with Russia’s own understanding of security. What can be caused by an ideologic center of attraction that can have effects on millions of Muslims living in Russian Federation and its neighbouring countries is apparent. Nobody should expect Moscow to open endless credit to a religious government in Turkey after the things experienced in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.
12. The Arab Spring, which we can define as paving the way for an organization that have always had organic relations to Islamic movements in Turkey in one dimension like Muslim Brothers and including it to the USA’s alliance had an absolute rapport with political-ideological climate created via AKP in Turkey. Before movements in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, AKP policy which was defined by Communist Party of Turkey as neo-ottomanism faces a serious deadlock at this point today. Neo-ottomanism, which is clearly seen as being doomed to failure with the Syrian people’s resistance against external intervention and religious terror, completely collapsed when AKP had to turn adrift Islamic organizations which gave itself the chance to snuggle to Syria and Iraq in some aspects. In Turkey, which turned to the rhetoric of “security” and struggle with PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) while explaining its existence in the two mentioned countries, regional claims that had been made perseveringly up until last year was took off the agenda personally by Erdogan. Turkish bourgeoisie and its power which it has encouraged for regional expansionism and finding new markets call for concentration on economic possibilities which will come in sight after the decrease in the intensity of war in highly devastated region and warns about not losing everything while pushing for unrealistic aims.
13. Kurdish politics, which is once more sent into “enemy” definition after degrading to a “security” problem today, had tried to open space for itself within the neo-ottoman perspective for a long time. The essence of the matter, AKP was also asserting at each moment when “resolution process” came up the fore that the resolution could shape in flesh and bones if and only if an Islamic regional arrangement was made. In this way, there was a mutual struggle for the Kurdish movement to settle onto Americanist, pro-market and religious policies which are the trivets of AKP politics. But for these efforts to have a result depended on the neo-ottoman philosophy to proceed on every platform. After Erdogan’s failure in Syria and his cuddling of the nationalist discourse which he always kept alive to balance inappreciativeness reflected on the streets collectively, PKK has once again converted into a “terror organization” from a “resolution partner” for AKP.
14. Kurdish politics today gets involved in USA’s operations in the region and in Turkey in dirty and bloody ways in order not to lose the opportunities it gained in relations to this country, on the other hand, it follows a multi-faceted strategy to not to be in the “losing” side in continuously changing equilibrium in Iraq and Syria. It is explicit that the “left” which asserts that the Kurdish politics joining and burying equality and freedom requests of Kurdish people to international capital and strategic calculations of imperialist centers is a ally of Turkey’s proletariat movement is a part of the same joining. Kurdish national movement is not a component of Turkey’s revolution not only because it stands behind the terrorist actions, but also because it settles onto a pro-market, reactionary and pro-American line, in contradiction to its own poor peasantry and working class base.
15. For this reason, it is not true in any sense that Erdogan, losing some of his old allies in the competition and conflict environment in the imperialist world and getting alone, is a defender of “national interests”. After all, there is no such a thing of “national interest” involving the whole society, in this sense the concept of “national interest” is a trick. It claims that the exploiter and the exploited are on the same ship. In other respects, it is apparent that the capitalist system justifies inequalities, unfairness, injustices in the international level, as it is built on inequalities. No capitalist country is innocent in a world of wolves, everyone gets into a share fight in proportion to its power and there is no such thing as fair position in this fight.
16. On the other hand, for many years, Turkish bourgeoisie willingly entered alliances and institutions that are under control of strong imperialist countries both to integrate to the world’s capitalist system and to overcome the its weakness in the class fight it conducted against the people in the region, particularly against Turkish working people. There are obvious class interests behind this preference which increases the weight of imperialist countries on Turkey’s economic, politic, ideologic dynamics. Those interests turned Turkey into an arena of CIA operations, it made Turkey’s economy embrittle, destroyed the industry and agriculture, opened ways to periodical coups, provided Turkish Armed Forces to play a role in armed conflicts outside the country. While all those happen, who suffers is the working people, who wins is the common interest of domestic-foreignmonopolies.
17. Today it may be asserted that the assaults on the existence of Turkey has been intensified, that Republic of Turkey is at hazard, and that Erdogan is intended to be overthrown because he has become a barrier for imperialist countries. These assertions, which are made by Erdogan’s supporters and Erdogan, who pledged loyalty to the USA and European Union ruling classes in order to ingratiate himself with them for years and who overtly rejects the founding philosophy of Turkish Republic, are exact opposite of the truth because;
- Republic of Turkey, which was founded in 1923, has been liquidated by the bourgeoisie in Turkey, which is the hegemonic class of Turkey, since this republic no longer was sufficient to serve for its interests anymore. This liquidation was actualized by AKP and with the encouragement of the USA and the EU. The abolishment of secularism, the destruction of public sector and public culture, and the participation in the military actions for the change of the borders in the region and the split of the countries are the policies which started prior to AKP government and which have continuity. The bourgeois Turkish Republic, which was born in a revolutionary atmosphere characterised by the Great October Socialist Revolution in 1917, has been cleansed by all of its components which constitute an impediment for the capitalist class. Who has been attacked in reality is the working class in Turkey. What has been attacked is the values which can be adopted by working class in Turkey, which belong to it.
- It is true that today Erdoğan and AKP government are placed in target board by some imperialist countries. They are targeted not because they represent the interests of peoples but because they are no more to the benefits of their heretofore allies in the imperialist world of which internal conflicts are getting deepened. What Erdogan advocates is his own interests and he is trying to be backed by the interests of Turkish bourgeoisie in its share-based struggle. There is no connection between these interests and working class in Turkey; on the contrary, Erdogan and those around him are assaulting to the working people every day and every hour. These assaults are in harmony with the attacks by international monopolies.
- The partition or fragmentation of Turkey, or its being dragged into a civil war are the possibilities which have emerged as a result of the international dynamics of capitalism. It is insane to think that these threats can be eliminated within the limits of capitalism. Capitalism in the phase of imperialism cannot exist without share-based struggle and the wars, occupations, and coups which set a ground for share holding. Turkey, which is always one of the major actors of internal struggles within the imperialist system, cannot secure itself totally without breaking its bonds with imperialist system. It should not be forgotten that in the past Turkey secured itself thanks to the status quo resulting from the existence of the Soviet Union which was a class enemy of the bourgeoisie in Turkey.
- The argument that the assaulting to Erdogan mean automatically attacking Turkey are based on the fallacy that everyone living in Turkey have common benefits which Erdogan concretized and the fallacy that a peaceful foreign politics is possible under the conditions of capitalism. However, we know that the conflict of interests between Erdogan and the people has totally different foundations comparing to the conflict of interest between Erdogan and some imperialist countries or the capital in Turkey. TKP, as the party of working class in Turkey, never comes side by side or never has any temporary or permanent strategical cooperation with Erdogan, any imperialist country, any capital group or any bourgeois party.
18. The violent operation against Erdogan by Fethullah Gülen movement which was created by the USA in the course of fight with communism started a harsh operation against their old ally or the campaign against Erdogan carried out by some imperialist centers can not change our stance against the ruling class and the government in Turkey. Yet, this situation makes us face to face with the mission of intensifying the struggle against the rule of capital, imperialist countries and institutions which made Turkey such vulnerable and open to foreign interventions and struggle against their activities in our country.
19. The problem of Erdogan is not the unique or major problem. Communist Party of Turkey rejects all class compromised strategies cooperating with Erdogan for the entity and “independence” of Turkey and with everyone (and of course imperialist centers) against Erdogan for freedoms and democracy. Turkey is being dragged into darkness in the hands of capitalists and their political cadres. Any strategy being produced on this stream is a betrayal to working people. In this context;
20. Communist Party of Turkey will stay away from any position and attitude which curtain the irreconcilable conflicts between the capitalists and working class and unconditionally rejects any camp around Erdogan. Concepts such as independence, national sovereignty, freedom, and democracy do not have general and abstract meanings which are separate from class perspective. The struggle against imperialism, reactionary forces, tyranny, and fascism and the struggle against exploitation, inequalities, and social injustice cannot separated from one another. When these struggles are separated or divided into steps, working class gets weakened and therefore plays into the hands of capitalists, imperialism and international reaction.
21. Communist Party of Turkey believes that the struggle against current political power is an irrecusable and top-priority mission. This struggle undoubtedly includes the struggle against Erdogan’s ambition and claim of being the executive president. However, “Executive Presidency” cannot be handled as a the-end-of-the-world type matter. In this reductionist approach, who will lose will be the people at all events.
22. The struggle against the political power requires the raise of the struggle against the US imperialism, NATO, and European Union. TKP, will continue to be meticulous and vigilant so as to get rid of the damper as a “cooperator” on progressive traditions in Turkey. This meticulousness and vigilance also includes the struggle against any group and platform that consider “liberal-looking” components of the capital as a “friend”. Furthermore, TKP will reveal and object to any steps that will be taken by foreign powers for the reconstruction of the area of politics in Turkey and will not allow the fake heroes of democracy to deceive the people.
23. The enlightenment struggle against Islamic fundamentalism becomes more important under these circumstances in order to increase the influence of the working class and orient it to the goal of socialism. The relation between the assaults of the capital against labour and governing the society and the state under the religious acts and escalating the influence of religion on certain areas like education, culture and law is becoming more evident day by day. The laicism of the bourgeoisie is not persuasive anymore; furthermore, alleging that political Islam provided a recipe for emancipation for the oppressed has heavily lost legitimacy after years of incautious and vulgar pro-market policies of AKP. The struggle of enlightenment is putting down its roots more onto the class struggle day by day. The Enlightenment Movement (a movement that was founded by a call from TKP in 2016) is gaining more importance and presenting unique opportunities for the above-mentioned struggle.
24. Struggle against Erdogan’s move for executive presidency is doomed to fail if it is confined to a parliamentary basis within the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Today the Assembly is not an institution which balances or inspects the political power but a dazzler which legitimizes its violator actions. A deliberate endeavour has been initiated so as to make the society rely on pro-establishment institutions, mechanisms and actors since the popular uprising in 2013, thus the people has lost its self-confidence yet again. The people should be organized in every street, neighbourhood, and work place, this attack should be wholly evaluated as a part of a frame on what has happened in Turkey, and independent movement and resistance of the working class should be escalated. On condition that a referendum for constitutional amendments is organized, it should be tried hard to increase the number of “NO” votes and organise so as to prevent electoral fraud. It is meaningless to boycott the referendum on executive presidency on the agenda.
25. But TKP shall not waste time squeezing itself in the debate around the Presidential system. Every ‘agenda’ separated from its general context and class essence is increasing the losses of the working class in Turkey. The Party has the ability to act in accordance with its historical responsibilities without avoiding the current tasks and in no condition whatsoever shall make these two confront one another.
26. The liberal attack against TKP, which came to a head in 2014 and created a deep crisis in the party, has been defeated. The liberal operation extending with open and disguised interventions, intensifying and reshaping since 2012, in order to break the patriotic, enlightened and revolutionary position of the left, together with the June Movement, has taken advantage of the organizational weaknesses of our party and it was not possible to prevent the group which had become part of this operation, from dragging the party into this crisis. The dedicated militants of the Party showed no succumb to this operation, the attempt to liquidate the party was hindered, and today the liberal attack against our party eventually has been defeated.
27. The legacy of TKP is primarily the political line of TKP. TKP, in the last fifteen years of complex developments in the country, the region and the world, has taken position in accordance with its programme and the historical interests of the class that is representing and has intervened with the appropriate means to the agenda. The liberal operation desiring to show TKP as a story of failure, aimed to purge the existence and the effect of TKP in the political arena of Turkey was not successful.
28. The political line of TKP cannot continue its existence without an advanced political culture. The communists cannot legitimize each and every method and instrument in the revolutionary struggle. Lying, exaggerating, gossiping, vulgarity, hypocrisy, spinelessness are features of the bourgeoisie which is appealing to the rottenness. The Party is leading the working class to the politics with an urban, modern and collective identity and is representing the good, the beautiful and the true virtues. The task of TKP is ensuring the internalizing of the communist politics’ culture to the socialist struggle and to the Party living as a whole.
29. TKP has risen on a rich and authentic organizational tradition. We have experienced more than once with heavy costs the results of a deficiency and diverge in this tradition. The optimistic idea that the party politics is pulling forward the organization in every condition is openly falsified. The fact that assigning the organizational problems to the political breakthroughs is not possible, has been recorded in the party congress and conferences made after 2014. In the coming period new steps shall be added to configure the internal party life into a revolutionary perspective. The Party as an instrument of socialist struggle will be enriched with strong and trustworthy leadership; with alerted and qualified cadres; with advanced and ensured continuity of the organizational structure from its members to its friends; with maturity and the channels to struggle in every condition.
30. TKP, is the party of the working class. The thesis that a communist party is the composition of the social dynamics was the suggestion that revealed the most the liberal operation made against the party in the past. TKP, is not the composition of the social dynamics. The vanguard party intervenes in the social dynamics, in the name of the historical interests of the working class. The essential precondition of shaping this intervention in flesh and bones is the organizational work done in the workplaces. TKP, when taking into account primarily the workplace units in the organizational and political agenda, at the same time is attacking against the middle class ideology that is harming the enlightened and patriotic elements in the society and is going out of the balances of the existing system that are seizing the so called “left”.
31. The structural problems of the capitalism in Turkey together with the manipulative economic experiments accompanying the engineering political attempts of the imperialist centres cannot be separated anyhow from one another. From the view of TKP the task shall not change: We shall oppose in every condition billing the working people. In the final analysis, the AKP government using the opportunities and making regulations in the interest of the capital owners after the military coup attempt in 15th July, and the external forces that played with the Turkish economy and impoverished the people even more, are in the same rank. TKP shall spoil the game of “nationalism” of the bourgeoisie in Turkey or its real political cadres and shall rise up the working class.
32. Turkey is squeezed among the dictator that is seeking his own salvation, the greedy bourgeoisie that is trying by every means to protect its class interests with or without the dictator and the imperialist forces that are in a tough battle with one another. There is no emancipation recipe that accepts this squeeze. The abandonment of Erdogan by some sectors of the bourgeoisie, being thrown aside by this or that imperialist country can be the expectation of a desperate citizen but cannot be the ground of a strategy shaped by the communists. The “left” forces of Turkey do not have the courage to break with the ones that appeal to the USA or the EU, the ones that accept an open or veiled cooperation with the religious sects, the ones that are waiting for the day that the bourgeoisie in Turkey will protect the secularism or democracy, the ones that think that the Russia-China axis will lead to the emancipation of the working class in Turkey. TKP, shall put its signature under this break.
33. The place of the communists is within the ranks of TKP. The picture in Turkey shows that disorganization causes the loss not only of the future but also of the present. The prescription for despair, pessimism and fear is the organized struggle within the ranks of a party. TKP, does not belong to any individual, team, or group. TKP with its programme, political culture and organizational existence is the party of the working class. The country is calling TKP and TKP is calling the communists. The rest is just details; TAKE OVER YOUR DUTY!
Central Committee of Communist Party of Turkey.

https://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2017/02/theses-and-tasks-of-tkp-erdogan.html

Man, the Turkish commies are coming out strong! Erdogan is such an Islamo-fascist nutbag, I am afraid for our brothers over there.


The place of the communists is within the ranks of TKP. The picture in Turkey shows that disorganization causes the loss not only of the future but also of the present. The prescription for despair, pessimism and fear is the organized struggle within the ranks of a party. TKP, does not belong to any individual, team, or group. TKP with its programme, political culture and organizational existence is the party of the working class. The country is calling TKP and TKP is calling the communists. The rest is just details; TAKE OVER YOUR DUTY!
Central Committee of Communist Party of Turkey.

Strong, strong stuff. We need to "take over our duty" right here, right now.

Turkey referendum: The aspiring Sultan Erdogan and the militant activity of Turkish communists

EDITORIAL

The referendum which will take place in Turkey on Sunday is certainly a historic and important one. Voters will decide whether to approve constitutional changes that would replace the current parliamentary system with a presidential one.

When we talk about constitutional changes we actually refer to 18 constitutional reforms which will strengthen the powers of the President thus giving Rejep Tayyip Erdogan a much more advanced status of authority (e.g. declare state of emergency, issue decrees, appoint government ministers, appoint half of the highest judicial body etc).

Through this referendum Erdogan tries to upgrade his authority by accumulating more and more powers in his hands. A "Yes" vote will transform President Erdogan into a modern Sultan within Turkey's political system. However, behind Tayyip Erdogan's own aspirations, the proposed reforms reflect certain intentions of the country's bourgeoisie to claim a better position for the Turkish capital in the inter-imperialist competitions and plans which are taking place in eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Erdogan and his AKP government are the current political representatives of the most powerful part of Turkey's bourgeois class. Through the consolidation and invigoration of Erdogan's internal power, Turkey's plutocracy aims in strengthening its own strategic presense in the broader region, claiming large shares from the huge energy "pie" in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, as well as significant gains in multiple fronts (e.g. in Cyprus, the Kurdish Issue, Syria, the "war against terrorism", etc).

Taking into account the above, it becomes clear that the proposed constitutional reforms consist part of Turkey's intra-bourgeois processes which are taking place within the framework of the general inter-imperialist competitions in the region. No matter the result of the referendum, it is sure that the attack on people's rights and against the working class, will escalate in the coming future. This is why the popular strata of Turkey, the country's working class, must not be entrapped in fighting under the false flags of bourgeois political powers.

All these days, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) unfolded a militant activity, highlighting the need to reject the reforms from the perspective of people's interests. Despite the numerous obstacles by the authorities (such as the ban of the TKP rally by the Governorship of Istanbul), the communists of the TKP defied the difficulties, headed into the streets and raised the voice of "Hayir" (No!).

Nonetheless, the "No" vote supported by the TKP is not the same as the "No" promoted by the bourgeois opposition: for the communists a "No" to the referendum must be accompanied by the fight against the capitalist system itself in order to open new channels of struggle for the revolutionary, working-class movement.

On Monday, regardless of the referendum's result, the class-struggle will continue. The working people of Turkey, under the continuous, militant guidance of the communists, must raise their own flag of struggle against the major enemy: the exploitative capitalist system which gives birth to poverty, inequality, authoritarianism and wars.

Boyun Eğme!

https://communismgr.blogspot.com/2017/04/turkey-referendum-aspiring-sultan-and.html

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8La4w80iJok/V4vNXd79EeI/AAAAAAAABMc/an7b0i245mEKIoak1La7vE-2UWFnB5c4ACPcB/s320/Kemal%2BOkuyan%2BFS%2Bof%2BKP%2BTurkey.jpg
Kemal Okuyan: "Turkey does not have any other choice. We need socialism as we need air and water" (Interview with TKP's First Secretary)

The interview by soL news portal with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of TKP (Communist Party of Turkey), on the results of the 16 April referendum in Turkey.
Source: International Communist Press, 17 April 2017.
soL: What can you say right away about the results of the referendum?
KO: We cannot talk about an arithmetical result. They did something they are good at, and they have stolen the results. Our logic, our mind and conscience tell us that ‘No’ won in arithmetic terms, too.
Yet, there are other results. First of all, we see all they could muster despite all their repression, exploitation of public resources, and fraud; the picture speaks for itself. We saw that in reality their followers do not add up to more than 40 percent of the population in Turkey.

And still more importantly, the resistance in big cities increased rather than decreased. Istanbul and Ankara have been added to Izmir. We should also count Adana, Mersin, Diyarbakır, Antalya, Denizli, Aydın, and Eskişehir. With this picture you cannot change the constitution whatsoever. You only think you can.
soL: Before coming to that matter, let’s talk about fraud. Did they really have a big impact on the election?
KO: If we take into account all violations as a whole, yes of course they did. Why don’t we call utilization of all public resources in favor of ‘Yes’ a fraud? The media lies, are not those fraud? The threats, the terrorization, aren't those fraud? They limited the number of parties eligible to participate in the elections, decreasing the number of ballot observers, isn't this a fraud? To all that, add what they did on the day of referendum. Missing ballot papers, unsealed ballot papers, images of people casting ‘Yes’ outside the voting cabins, even on the streets, thousands of people shamelessly showing off photos of their votes for ‘Yes’, photos of group of people standing all at once in the same cabin, unlawful interventions by the police and the gendarmerie, repeated voting, and finally the decision of the Supreme Committee of Election to accept unsealed ballot papers. When you take into account all this as a whole, the referendum is wallowed in mud.
soL: Can anything be done about it?
KO: The people should respond. Yet, there is the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which stands as a barrier in front of the people's reactions, a party which people still have faith in. Erdoğan should once again thank Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of CHP.
soL: What can CHP really do?
KO: CHP cannot do anything. They cannot; but we are the ones who know that. The mass base of CHP constantly get their hopes up, “maybe this time…”, and choose to wait. Each time, CHP very successfully fulfills the task of soothing the anger and the energy of the masses. Before the referendum, we were saying that there were CHP cadre who wished for a ‘Yes’ result with a slight margin. Those cadre also include Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of CHP.
soL: How can you be so sure?
KO: First of all, Kılıçdaroğlu was not ready for a ‘No’ result. What was he going to do if ‘No’ succeeded? The government would not accept the result and there would be a lot of tension… All along the referendum process, Kılıçdaroğlu did nothing but preached for ‘consensus’. There is nothing about ‘power’ here. Secondly, and most importantly, we should not forget that ‘Yes’ was the result aspired by a large section of the big capital and international monopolies. It is the bosses who have been advocating for the presidential system for years. We know that the imperialist centers also pushed for a system with strengthened executive powers. The only problem is the extremism and rash manners of Erdoğan. A ‘Yes’ with a narrow margin would have restrained Erdoğan on the one hand, and keep in force a ‘program’ with a wide space for maneuver for the capital on the other hand. They achieved what they desired. This is the personal mission of Kılıçdaroğlu for years.
soL: Then, will this lead to some relief? I mean, if this was what they wanted…
KO: No. This is because the contradictions within the imperialist system have reached serious levels and Turkey is standing on a crucial juncture of those contradictions. On the one hand, Erdoğan is extending his political life exploiting these contradictions, and on the other hand, this continuously means new mines on Erdoğan's path. There is no room for stability in this picture. Nor the internal dynamics of Turkey can produce stability. Erdoğan is an unbearable burder for Turkey. Culturally, ideologically, politically, and economically… And there is another fact that is slowly surfacing: the working classes of Turkey cannot withstand Erdoğan and his mentality. No matter what Kılıçdaroğlu does…
soL: What will happen then?
KO: The status quo in the Turkish political order has been shaken as of yesterday. There are serious problems in AKP. Let’s say they knew they had already lost Izmir; but a government party that has also lost Ankara and Istanbul… If the results had been a little bit worse, Erdoğan would not have had any choice but to rush to take up the presidency of AKP.
CHP never ceases to have problems anyway. In all these years I have never met a CHP member who is happy with CHP. There, the discussion never ends.
And now there is a new reality in the Turkish bourgeois politics: Akşener. Her team will eat into AKP as Erdoğan and AKP face difficulties. This team has already become the representative of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). They will also attract the attention of the discontented in CHP. We know that there are preparations and dialogue for the construction of a new ‘center’.
The other party in the parliament, People’s Democratic Party (HDP), showed that it has been able to successfully consolidate its grassroots despite all the repression.
soL: So, what should we expect in politics: recovery or disintegration?
KO: For recovery, disintegration is needed first. However, at this moment Turkey seems far from such episodic classifications; ambiguities increase each day in the country. Especially in this world! This is why we argued that the referendum alone would not be able to determine everything at once.
soL: That is where I was trying to get to. TKP said, “Continue the struggle whethre the result is ‘Yes’ or ‘No’”. After the referendum, can we attach new meanings to this perspective?
KO: TKP said so because if ‘No’ had succeeded, this would have been a big achievement, a step forward that would lead to positive results but it would never have been a solution in itself. There was not even a level of organization to protect the ‘No’ votes. And actually this was confirmed. Mathematically we know that more than half of the voters in Turkey voted for ‘No’. Yet, the party in power stole them and the response was no more than a few very valuable but weak actions. We also said, ‘Yes’ would not be the end of the world. Now is it the end of the world? Do we now have to pack and leave? No way! TKP was and still is calling for immediate escalation of organized struggle. Yet, on a different basis…
soL: What is that basis?
KO: TKP is a party that defends enlightenment, secularism and the Republic against religious fundamentalism. Without any hesitation and from the beginning… And today in Turkey, the majority of the ‘No’ votes are centered on secularism, although not all of them. However, there is a clear fact in Turkey: the deadlock in Turkey cannot be solved through the polarization between secularism and religious fundamentalism. Secularism alone cannot push back religious fundamentalism, and vice versa. What they want is to reconcile these two poles and strengthen the transitive area in between. This would actually mean the triumph of religious fundamentalism. Just as ‘moderate Islam’ is an imperialist fabrication, there is nothing such as moderate Enlightenment or moderate secularism. Yet, the gang of bosses still wants that. This would be the defeat of the society in Turkey. The deadlock can only be resolved by a class-based polarization. Secularism also needs that.
TKP is primarily a class party; we fight for the emancipation of the working class and we affirm that emancipation of the working class is the emancipation of the whole society. Here we do not pit secularism against working class struggle, the struggle for socialism. We just say: in this bourgeois world, in this capitalist order, forget about secularism; what you will find is its caricature.
soL: So, you mean without class-based politics, secularism cannot get the upper hand against religious fundamentalism. Then, Turkey will not be able to overcome this deadlock in the short term. Is that true?
KO: No, it won’t. However, in countries like Turkey, it is difficult to say what is the short term and what is the long term. Imperialism is in crisis. And the capitalist order in Turkey is on the brink of a very serious economic crisis. Lack of organization in such a period is fatal. We insist in our call. The people in Turkey should be organized. And secular sectors should leave behind the heedlessness, “We don't mind the exploitation and injustices continuing as long as they don’t mess with our raki (an alcoholic beverage) or the length of our skirt”; there is no other choice.

soL: Can the pro-‘No’ sector go through such a transformation?
KO: Look, in a sense, the referendum is behind us. The result is illegitimate; this is an indisputable fact. But from now on, people should raise their heads from the ballot box and focus on the realities of life. This society is unorganized. We are unorganized in factories, in offices, in schools, in neighborhoods. Then, you cannot protect your votes either. It is not enough to sing the Anthem of Izmir. Those who are satisfied with this capitalist order but do not want to lose secularism will have to take care of themselves on their own if they remain satisfied with the system; they do not have the right to complain. However, the majority of the voters of ‘No’ are workers. We should start understanding that it was the bourgeois class who placed dynamites in the foundations of secularism in Turkey, and that what we call imperialism is an order of monopolies. And there is no way to deal with it unless you are organized.
soL: Do we need to address the pro-‘No’ sector only?
KO: Primarily yes. This is the only way to be able to extend hand to the working people in the social basis of AKP. If ‘No’ loses energy, if its self-confidence gets weaker, if the atmosphere of defeat becomes prevalent, nothing can be changed in this country. No one can be convinced. And there is only one single way to infuse energy and identity to ‘No’: giving it the color of the working class. This is not a mathematical operation but a political one. The day one tenth of the voters of ‘No’ take such an organized stance, everything will change. And nobody will be able to steal it! Neither the governing party, nor the official 'AA' new agency, nor the Supreme Committee of Election!
soL: Do you believe that such organization will be possible in the near future?
KO: This country does not have any other choice. TKP will make the utmost effort. We need socialism as we need air and water. We are in favorable conditions to explain this, we are in favorable conditions to get people to understand it, we are in favorable conditions to organize it. The idea of Republic also needs socialism. Turkey cannot bear Erdoğan and capitalism cannot bear the Republic. Then what?
soL: Finally, what would you like to say?
KO: Before and on the day of the referendum many people worked for a ‘No’ outcome with great sincerity and self-sacrifice. These people are the honor of this country. Nobody should regret that all those efforts went for nothing. Nothing is in vain. Yesterday a very important lesson was learnt. If you are unorganized, you are nothing. If we fulfill the requirements of that lesson, there is nothing to be pessimistic about.

https://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2017/04/kemal-okuyan-turkey-does-not-have-any.html

Communist Party of Turkey announces solidarity with Palestinian prisoners
TKP announced its unconditional solidarity and full support with the struggle of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike


Wednesday, 24 May 2017 01:40
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Communist Party if Turkey (TKP) announced its unconditional solidarity and full support with the rightful struggle of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike and the working people of Palestine against Israeli occupation.

"66 years after the Naqba, Israeli occupation and aggression against Palestinian people continue with all its severity. Lastly, inhumane and unjust treatment of Palestinian political prisoners sparked a hunger strike, which has reached its 5th week," TKP said in a written statement.

About 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have been hunger-striking since April 17 over demands for humane conditions.

TKP condemned Zionist aggression against Palestinian people and the violations of human rights and dignity of Palestinian prisoners.

"The role of imperialist powers such as the US, EU, and NATO in the persistence of Israeli occupation is evident. However, reactionary forces and bourgeois collaborators in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey are no more innocent," it said.

The statement underlined that pro-Palestinian statements of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Islamist AKP party, do not reflect the reality.

"While promoting false hopes to Palestinian people with their anti-Israel demagogy, Erdoğan and his reactionary AKP governments have kept tightening the ties with Israel through billions of dollars worth business and military contracts," the statement read.

"Thus, the TKP once again highlights that the emancipation of Palestinian people, as with all other peoples of the region, can come only through the true solidarity of progressive forces under the leadership of the working class," it said.

http://news.sol.org.tr/communist-party-turkey-announces-solidarity-palestinian-prisoners-172287

The 12th Congress of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) declares 2017 as the year of Socialism

Source: soL international.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/01gSSP2LbUsQp8qnOs1gBgMUL9Lo7-icKohKf5iy3dsG3dQLEB7KbhTIYmHeEkkApIP0B0oWJSCAZKjtHhilzQgjUr6fighZ4L1fi6H1yjg9uOknfiIjTv1VAJB7X3lL0z1tYSRuJoCKeG53STyZKbdM8s5Zwd-Gim2bt07CV-QNr4m7Pw=s0-d

The Communist Party of Turkey's (TKP) 12th Congress was held in Istanbul on May 27-28 with the slogan, 'to empower the socialist alternative'. The Congress unanimously approved six basic documents, and declared 2017 as 'the year of socialism'. The Congress has also announced that TKP will hold a 'festival of socialism' during the anniversary of the Great October Revolution.

Many important resolutions were taken during the conference sessions, in which 383 delegates from all party organisations participated, including 14 delegates from abroad.

The conference started with the opening speech of Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey.

Party member poet Nihat Behram’s salutation message was also read during the conference. Nihat Behram has donated the revenues of his book to TKP. Communist poet’s bookmarks the 50th year of his poetry.

‘THE YEAR OF SOCIALISM’

Many delegates took part in discussions and made contributions during the 2-day countrywide conference of TKP. The delegates unanimously approved such documents as “The Preface of the Party Programme”, “On the Party and Party life”, “Our Road is the Road of Revolution at the 100th Year of the Great October Socialist Revolution”, “Theses of 2017 on Imperialism Regarding Russia and China”, “Theses on the Party History”, “The Political and Organizational Goals, June 2017-June 2018”.

The Conference that was held with the slogan, “to empower the socialist alternative”, declared the existing working period as “the year of Socialism”, and decided to hold a grand “Festival of Socialism” during the anniversary of the October Revolution.

Apart from various documents and the report on the political and organisational goals, which were approved by the Congress delegation, some political resolutions were also put on the agenda.
TKP’s 12th Congress-Turkey Conference ended with the closing speech by Kemal Okuyan.

POLITICAL RESOLUTIONS OF TKP’s 12th CONGRESS

The Communist Party of Turkey’s 12th Congress approved and declared seven political resolutions.
The first resolution, “On the anniversary of the June Resistance”, echoes the fourth anniversary of Turkey’s mass anti-governmental protests and rallies in 2013, which attracted millions of people across the country, particularly in İstanbul’s iconic Taksim Square. 8 people were murdered by the police force of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the protests.

Indicating to the secularist position of the patriotic people in June 2013, TKP has declared that the people could not fit in the counterrevolution of AKP. TKP enthusiastically commemorates the fourth anniversary of the June Resistance in 2013, and bows respectfully before the memory of the people who lost their lives.

TKP’s 12th Congress has pointed out to the importance of the June Resistance and the role of the Party: “This mass movement, sustained by millions of compatriots for months, was a unique action in the history of our country. The Communist Party of Turkey took its part in the front lines of the resistance during the months of summer in 2013, made significant contributions in respect of militant struggles and also made critical interventions in the political character of the movement.”

TKP has also underlined the liberal and liquidationist attacks within the left: “The June Resistance could not gain continuity as a dynamic of the mass struggle because of insufficiencies in this very second aspect. It is not a coincidence that after 2013, a liberal political restoration and liquidation of the left was intended. The hegemonic powers tried to take revenge of the resistance by not only imposing nefarious policies of pressure but also intercepting the left.”

Following this political resolution, TKP has promised to bring the AKP power to account for all the crimes committed against Turkey’s people.

‘LOOTERS WILL BE BROUGHT TO ACCOUNT’

The second political resolution of the Congress, “On ‘the power of the rich’”, states: “A capitalist dictatorship reigns in Turkey. The capitalist dictatorship is run by deputy politicians in the name of bosses.”

For the struggle against ‘the power of the rich’, TKP has declared: “12th Congress of the Communist Party of Turkey emphasises that this is a robbery that deprives our working people, who are getting poorer day by day, of all their rights. It represents the gravest attack against the dignity of our people. Our Congress declares that the working class will bring this humiliation to account.”
The third political resolution underlines the Party’s solidarity with the glass workers, whose strike was banned by the AKP government under the pretext of “a threat to national security”.

Announcing that the working class will not yield, this resolution has also described the recent situation of the working people in Turkey: “It has been a custom for the AKP government, which does not hesitate to attack the most fundamental rights of the working class, to ban strikes and to justify it with concerns of national security. Recently they also intended to ban the strike of the metal workers, which was frustrated with the actual struggle of workers. Now our sister and brother workers are defending their labour against the ban on strike declared in facilities of Şişecam [Turkey’s biggest glassware enterprise]. The unyielding glass workers are leading this resistance not only for their own rights but also on the name of our people as a whole.”

Upon the Congress resolution, TKP has declared that it will continue with all might its solidarity with the workers’ resistance and called all pro-labour forces to be part of the resistance.

‘ON THE POLICIES OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY’

TKP’s 12th Congress has also pointed out to the unlawful implementations of the government that sacked tens of thousands of labourers during the existing long-termed state of emergency in Turkey. TKP, therefore, has declared that Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça should be set free. The two educators in question were sacked by the government, started a hunger strike for over 2 months for their right to work, and finally were arrested by the government.

TKP has clearly pointed out: “Finally, the arrest of Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, the education workers who chose to resist with the hunger strike for their right to work, with fabricated reasons has blatantly shown the inhumane and labour-enemy character of the reactionary capitalist government. The Communist Party of Turkey categorically protests that and demands the liberation of Gülmen and Özakça and immediate restitution of their jobs.”

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/B6tZXh9LRRB6MT7I41T9Uxs8-_wwZS_SFc5FEf8Op6_Sod22BoUcjv7gENbBjqxAGqsV_tZVp6hyf-5TcOoaiDiHnMGJykaCcEfUVmEoWMs8n2LHub_2jsKudo4iqjTpBI1gRUGErwO1HMvYP0mEC4Xw8K9IjNAeE8TrCtuLHm4FdtQXcHg=s0-d

‘UNITED STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE REGION FOR SOCIALISM’

12th Congress of the Communist Party of Turkey has taken a fifth political resolution regarding the foreign affairs of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). TKP has particularly indicated to the notorious role of AKP in Syria, Cyprus and the Middle East:

“The foreign policy of AKP against the neighbouring countries as being totally irrelevant to the historical values of our people. AKP government is primarily liable of the current war and the bloodshed in Syria. AKP government initiates provocation against Greece and tries to antagonise our people, whenever it needs to manipulate the domestic or foreign political agenda. AKP government prefers to keep the Cyprus issue unsolved to be able to blackmail all the people of the Island. AKP government has been threatening the peoples of the regions and involving military activity implicitly and explicitly at times in the Middle East at others in the Black Sea. Those policies are amongst the primary reasons of the lost lives of thousands of immigrants, wars and bloodshed in our region.”

TKP has shown its fraternal solidarity with the neighbouring peoples in the region, emphasising that peace and justice could be achieved only with the struggle for socialism.

‘THE VENEZUELAN REVOLUTION WILL NOT SURRENDER’

The sixth political resolution of TKP’s 12th Congress has pointed out to the imperialist-led intervention in Venezuela: “Venezuela is being a scene of a nefarious scenario of counter-revolution by imperialism and its collaborators. The purpose of the provocation of the right-wing opposition, the smear campaigns waged by international bourgeois media, and the violent counter-revolutionary actions, which caused lives of tens of people, is to drag the Bolivarian government into chaos and pay the way for counter-revolution.”

In addition to its message of solidarity with the people of Venezuela, TKP has also stated its support to the Venezuelan Communists: “The Communist Party of Turkey salutes enthusiastically the strategic preference and policies of the Communist Party of Venezuela to deepen the revolution to protect it and, through the Communist Party of Venezuela, conveys its message of solidarity with the people of Venezuela.”

‘WE SALUTE SOCIALIST CUBA’

The seventh political resolution of TKP’s 12th Congress has saluted Socialist Cuba, which has been targeted by imperialism, particularly the US imperialism, for long decades.

Declaring its solidarity with Cuba, TKP has underlined that the Cuban people have proved repeatedly that they would never retreat from the gains of socialism and the merits of patriotism.

In conclusion, TKP has shown solidarity with the Cuban people and their vanguard the Communist Party of Cuba, saluting Raul Castro as the comrade and leader of Cuban socialism.

Held with a slogan to empower the socialist alternative in Turkey and reinforced the decisive stance of TKP, 12th Congress of the Communist of Turkey received so many greetings and solidarity messages from the communist and workers’ parties around the whole world.

https://communismgr.blogspot.gr/2017/05/the-12th-congress-of-communist-party-of.html

The Turks can do this under the shadow of a swine like Erdogan but American communists can't find their ass to swipe it.

The Turks can do this under the shadow of a swine like Erdogan but American communists can't find their ass to swipe it.

Just what I was thinking.