Kemal Okuyan, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and the author of the book Understanding Stalin published in Turkish, answered the questions of Ulaş Can in Yön Radio interview:
Although 64 years passed since Stalin died, he is still an issue of scrutiny. Why are there so many enemies of Stalin?
The humanity was giving a huge struggle in the 20th century. Although there had been though struggles in other centuries as well, there were two great wars in the 20th century. Humanity underwent fascism experiences. The 20th century was full of conflicts, coups and civil wars. The USSR, the hope of humanity in all these struggles, collapsed in 1991, at the close of the century. Although it did collapse, the humanity was not satisfied with the present conditions. It is still not satisfied and the search of humanity still continues.
Thus the people naturally try to hold on to the symbolic events, countries and leaders of the 20th century. The powers striving for the continuation of the present status quo and system, the imperialism and the capitalists around the world, have to destroy these symbols. They have to eliminate such positive elements of the past from the minds of the people. This is exactly the case in Turkey. There is the national independence war in the history of Turkey. I don't want to dive in some discussions, but... Why are they messing with it? Why are they messing with the figures of the independence war, with Mustafa Kemal? Because they want to destroy them. They want to erase that historical period from the minds of the people.
Stalin is important in that he had been the leader of the USSR for a long time. It's founding leader was Lenin, for sure. However, Lenin's rule lasted for 5 years actually. Stalin was there from 1924 to 1953, in almost all the important turning points of the USSR. This is the truth. The USSR had made great breakthroughs. They got industrialised, turning a worn-out farmer society into an industrial one.
They got rid of a large part of inequalities, eliminated homelessness and unemployment. They organised incredible mobilisation for health and education. They created a well-educated society. And yet, they had been in the war at the two thirds of that time. They experienced the cruellest attack in the world. That society survived such an attack. Stalin was an idol in 1945 not only in the USSR, but also in Europe and the US. He was a great hero even for the ones who were not communists. It is not only because he defeated Hitler, but also because the country triumphed with him. Now they have to destroy this. They have to fight for that. Why? Because they have to erase that memory.
"THEY ARE FIGHTING AGAINST THE HISTORICAL MISSION OF STALIN"
The USSR lost 27 million people during the second world war. It is not ethical to make such a comparison but how many people did the US or the British lose? This shows how much sacrifice the USSR made. I do not remember a movie telling these. The youth believes that the US beat Germany in the second world war.
People also believe that the US fought against Germany and the USSR. The society is stupefied. They are being lied all the time. Churchill, one of the most singular anti-communists in the world, has an interesting statement. He says "In wartime, the truth is so precious that it should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."
The role of the USSR in the second world war was concealed in the west. They had to do that. Why? Because the people were unhappy. The USSR collapsed many years ago. But even in Russia, they could not undo the legacy. They tell all kinds of lies, that he was a murderer and a dictator, and yet more than half the society considers Stalin as the most important leader of the Russian history. The ones who try to explain this situation through nationalism face a problem: Stalin was not Russian, a Georgian.
Therefore, it cannot be explained through nationalism. There is a leader that people trust, whether they like it or not. That's what they try to destroy, because that leader represents another social system. They would welcome it if he were an ordinary leader. Then they would have said there had been such a leader in the history, he was important and to be respected.
However, the situation is just the opposite. He represents the antithesis, the opposite of capitalism and struggled for that throughout his whole life. As I told before, his faults and deficiencies are another issues. What they fight against is not the faults of Stain, it is his historical mission. I mean, no one shall fool himself.
"IT'S A PATHETIC MOVIE"
I watched some parts of the movie you mention. It's such a pathetic movie. They gathered bits and pieces that are partly true and partly tittle-tattle. They tried to create a parody out of all these. It's repulsive. Even in terms of aesthetics, it is bad. The humour is poor as well. The people I respect very much need not say that's the end of the dictators. The end of the dictators resembles Mussolini's end. Does anyone remember Mussolini? At least half of the humanity is not convinced of the lies about Stalin. This is quite important. They propagate lies but it creates just the opposite result.
The discussions on Stalin start right after his death. His death is a starting point even if they believe the USSR collapsed during Gorbachev's rule or in the 80's.
Some burdens are hard to carry. Stalin is an important leader since his country was sovereign, following its own path even though it was aware of the superiorities of the western imperialism as an underdeveloped country. Khrushchev was, on the other hand, was exhausted. Not only Khrushchev, but also his whole team, was not in a mood to fight off the western imperialism.
That's why their first move was to ingratiate with the west. They thought this would enable them to prevent imperialist attacks on the USSR. Therefore, Khrushchev gave the message that he was not like Stalin and that he was undoing his legacy. The way he did it was so poor that there was no trace of criticism in it. There were all kinds of rumours around all of which turned out to had been rumours after a while. Khrushchev gave this on a silver platter: we sold out a highly important leader. That's what it is all about. After that, it would be impossible to defend the USSR.
For example, even Putin himself, as a capitalist and anti-communist politician, speaks carefully about Stalin. He does not openly criticise him. Why? Because if he does it, they would call Putin a dictator as well.
"WE HAVE TO BEAT OFF LIES"
You regularly visit Russia. Stalin is still esteemed there...
A huge longing and a search for trustworthiness accompany this love. His tomb is near Lenin's mausoleum next to Kremlin's walls. The tomb is full of flowers all day. This is Stalin's tomb. Let me talk about another tomb. It is also full of red carnations, and that's Nazım Hikmet's tomb. It is in another place but there are always flowers in his tomb. This shows that lies backfire. These figures are valued more after a certain time. From where we stand, I can say that we let them distort history in the past. It is not only about Stalin.
They say countless lies about Syria today in the US, in Turkey, and in England. Neither Turkey, nor the whole world can survive if we condone this situation and let them twist the truth or surrender. We have to beat off lies. I have to say that most of what people say and write about Stalin is full of lies. They are openly lies, proved to be lies. They are trying to build a world on top of those lies but the humanity will not let that.
