The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) made a public declaration on the 98th anniversary of May 19, 1919, as the beginning of Turkey’s War of Independence leading to the modern Republic of Turkey.
Indicating to the bans of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on commemoration ceremonies of May 19,, which is a public holiday in Turkey, TKP stated: “We are heading to May 19 under bans. Having eliminated the occupying powers in Anatolia and later resulted in the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, the step for the ‘national movement’ taken 98 years ago was a decisive moment and a significant milestone. Today, the government sees the commemoration and celebration of the struggle against the imperialist occupying armies as a threat to the ‘national security’.”
TKP SHOWS HYPOCRITICAL STANCE OF NATIONALISTS AND LIBERALS
TKP also pointed out to the contradictory position of the nationalists and liberals in Turkey: “And some nationalists advocate that such a political power [AKP] guards the national interests. Some other nationalists argue that the rule of AKP should be protected in the name of the homeland and nation. Meanwhile, the reactionary, pan-Islamist and pro-American AKP presents its rule as a national issue. On the other hand, the left liberals, who dared to give a lesson of internationalism until recent times, saying, ‘Nation and nation-state are archaic concepts; integration into the international community is essential now. It would be sinful to call Germany and the US as imperialists,’ are now accompanying the İzmir Anthem [a pro-Republican anthem popular among Turkey’s anti-government people].
Underlining that there is no need of any confusion regarding Turkey’s historical facts, TKP’s declaration continued: “Turkey’s capitalism completed a critical political formation phase with the national struggle; as the national capital grew, which was doomed to the cooperation with the imperialist capital during its very birth, the system was established; and as the system was further established, all the national entities became multinational while independent Turkey became dependent. Independence for Turkey’s capitalism is a dream if not a lie.”
TKP also indicated to the Party’s views on the historical struggle against imperialism in the run-up to the foundation of modern Turkey, “When the Ottoman [Empire] was decaying and collapsing, of course, the struggles against the occupying armies in the country did not begin on May 19, 1919. Yet it is doubtlessly right to celebrate May 19, 1919, as the symbolic starting day of the national war of independence. It is impossible to wage a ‘second War of Independence’ starting from the same point 98 years after Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] landed Samsun.”
TKP: WORKERS’ STRUGGLE FOR POWER WILL REALIZE INDEPENDENCE
TKP underlined that today’s occupying force is itself of the capitalist system: “The occupation is no more the occupation of foreign armies. The occupation is the occupation of the exploitative system. The capitalist class, which remembers its ‘nationalist’ aspect only when it comes to oppress and subjugate the workers, is a party of this multinational occupation.”
TKP concluded its declaration by emphasising that the emancipation of Turkey can be realised only with the emancipation of labour: “After 98 years, from the fronts of our struggle for the power of labour, we salute the great step taken during the struggle for eliminating the occupying armies in Anatolia. What will realise independence in this era is the workers’ international fraternity and struggle for power.”
