The European Communist Initiative's "Struggle for Communism: 100 Years of Political Heritage" organized after the call of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) began this morning (February 16) in İstanbul.
The meeting began with the TKP International Relations Bureau's greeting of the delegates on behalf of the party. The opening speech of the meeting was made by TKP Secretary General Kemal Okuyan. In his opening speech, Okuyan remarked:
"While the Comintern was being established, the majority thought that the days of capitalism were numbered. Even the most cautious could never have predicted that a hundred years later capitalism would continue to exist as a world system. Following those who had the will to establish the World Party in 1919, we are looking at the past with the unshakeable belief that the bourgeoisie will be defeated and we ask ourselves "Why has it been so long, why is the victory delayed so long?
This question is different from the question "what was our mistake"? ... Recognizing the mistakes we have made in the past is undoubtedly a task we cannot escape. However, the primary condition of learning from the past is to link all of our evaluations to the answer to the question "how can we achieve success?
If we do so, we do not fear our own past; we will not deny our past as some others do in shame. If the working class came to power in a number of countries in the twentieth century, more will take place in the 21st century. We look at the past when we are looking for ways to realize this claim and we are taking lessons accordingly."
Communist and workers' parties from twenty different countries are participating in the meeting. The meeting, which was held on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Comintern, will also be an assessment of the past hundred years of the international communist movement. Preparations for the meeting, in which important topics of political history will be discussed, started within the last year. Each party will make presentations about critical events of its history and a common discussion will be held after the presentations.
