Koutsoumbas' statement on the aggression of Turkish government in the Aegean

Regarding the escalation of the Turkish aggression, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas made the following statement:

"The latest events consist an escalation of the Turkish aggression, after the formalization of Turkey's claims during the recent visit of Erdogan in Greece.

Before the- day before yesterday- collision of the Turkish ship, we had:

- Continuous encirclement of islets by Turkish ships

- Nearly a collision of a Turkish ship with a Greek gunboat. 

- Intervention of Turkish ships during the wreath laying in Imia by the Minister of Defense.

Comment by the KKE on Imia incident and Erdogan's statements

Regarding the incident near the Imia islets in southeastern Aegean and the statements made by Turkish President Erdogan on Greece and Cyprus, the Press Office of the CC of the KKE made the following comment:

"Both the incident in Imia, as well as the statements of Erdogan consists an escalation of the Turkish provocation, thus refuting the environment of complacency that the government cultivated during the visit of the Turkish President in Greece and proving that the participation of neighboring countries in NATO, as it has been supported in the case of FYROM, under no circumstances leads to stability and security for the people". 

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

KKE is firmly against the dangerous plans of USA-NATO-EU and Greece's involvement in them

Article of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE

Many international media outlets in the previous period have turned their attention to Greece and the nationalist demonstrations, which were held in Thessalonica and Athens, with the open support of the main right-wing opposition party of ND, as well as of the "Centre Union" and also of the criminal fascist organization "Golden Dawn".With the main slogan "Macedonia is Greece" nationalist and even fascist forces sought to exploit the justified concern of the people about the developments in the relations of our country with FYROM in order to saw he poison of nationalism, jingoism.

KKE: Comment regarding the nationalist rally over "Macedonia" name in Athens

Commenting on the "Macedonia" rally* that was held in central Athens on Sunday 4th February, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece pointed out the following:

"Both the speeches and the slogans that dominated in the rally, do not challenge the dangerous NATO plans which the SYRIZA-ANEL government promotes by designating the arsonists of the Balkans as supposed guarantors of peace and cooperation.

They conceal the actual problems, throwing water in the mill of nationalism and irredentism, while at the same time they are fostering the government to present its policy with the mandle of a supposed progressivity.

Declaration of the KKE about the Macedonia naming dispute between Greece and FYROM

Regarding the ongoing developments on the Macedonia name dispute and the negotiations between Greece and FYROM, the Communist Party of Greece issued the following pamphlet-statement.

“The arsonists of the Balkans- NATO, USA, EU- do not want to give a solution for the people's benefit!

The KKE calls the Greek people, who are genuinely concerned about the developments on the FYROM issue, must see the essence of the problem, the “forest” and not the “tree”. They must overcome the disorientation and the false dividing lines that both the government as well those powers who invest on nationalism and irredentism are cultivating.

Macedonia name dispute: KKE is opposed to FYROM's accession to NATO

The firm opposition of the Communist Party of Greece to NATO's plans in the Balkan region and the role of the imprialist alliance in the Macedonia name dispute, was stated by Nikos Sofianos, member of the Political Bureau of the Party's Central Committee, during an interview on ERT1.

“The negotiations that are currently taking place between Greece and the neighboring country [FYROM] are taking place under the umbrella of NATO and the Americans. These are the ones who accelerate the talks, aiming at the accession of FYROM in NATO” said Sofianos. 

He also added that both the government and other cosmopolitans as well as the organizers of the upcoming nationalist rally (which will take place on Sunday in Athens) “do not disagree with FYROM's accession to NATO, the alliance which is responsible for slaughtering the Balkans, dissolving Yugoslavia, bombing Serbia, creating minorities and utilizing irredentisms”.

Communist Party of Greece: The U.S. ambassador's interview confirmed the dangerous commitments of the government towards USA-NATO

Commenting on U.S. ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt's recent interview on SKAI TV, the Press Office of the CC of the KKE states the following:

"The interview of the ambassador of the USA confirmed that the Greek government has made very dangerous- for the Greek people- commitments which are gradually revealed and is evolving into the best "dealer" of the USA-NATO plans in the region. The aim is to make Greece a "geopolitical hinge" between NATO, EU and the broader region, as it was characteristically said. 

Three years of SYRIZA government in Greece

"Everything was easier with Tsipras and Tsakalotos. It's a completely different situation." This particular statement, made a few days ago by Jeroen Dijsselbloem in his last interview as the head of the Eurogroup, could be an excellent headline in the chapter "Three years of SYRIZA-ANEL governance".

During this time, taking the towel of antipeople policy from ND and PASOK, the SYRIZA-ANEL government has managed in a record time to complete a series of dirty missions for the capital, that the former [governments] left in the middle, earning the credit from the "hawks", as SYRIZA was calling the representatives of the EU and the IMF in the past.

KKE statement on Tsipras-Zaev meeting: "The combat against irredentism requires FYROM's constitution to be amended"

“The meeting between Tsipras- Zaev and the statements that followed confirm that the general established set, focusing on the accession of the neighboring country in NATO and the EU, the so-called Euroatlantic integration in western Balkans and the bankrupted practice of nomenclature, cannot guarantee a solution for the benefit of our people, for the people of the neighboring country (FYROM) and the people of the region” writes a statement of the Communist Party of Greece regarding yesterday's meeting between the Prime Ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Davos.

Thanasis Pafilis on Macedonia Issue: "NATO and EU are the people's murderers, not guarantors of borders"

Speaking earlier today (Wednesday) at the Greek Parliament, the parliamentary spokesman of the Communist Party of Greece Thanasis Pafilis, mentioned that nobody must see the Macedonia name issue (between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) "detached from all the developments in the wider region and especially in the Balkans". 

Thanasis Pafilis attacked both those who organize nationalist rallies - such as the one that took place three days ago in Thessaloniki- as well as those who express cosmopolitan views, underlining that both "do not challenge the accession of this country in NATO and the EU". More specifically, the KKE MP said: "The government's urgency [to solve the problem] - we don't know what agreements made in the USA- is exactly related with that. Because the USA and NATO in general are interested to incorporate FYROM in NATO and the EU, in order to finish the encirclement of Russia". 

Political event for the 100 years of the KKE held in Piraeus: "Capitalism- imperialism are the past - the KKE fights for a new world"

"A century of struggle and sacrifice, the KKE in the vanguard". Under this slogan, hundreds of workers, self-employed people, pensioners, trade unionists, students, people of sports and arts participated in the political event held on Monday evening in Piraeus, in honor of the 100 years since the foundation of the Communist Party of Greece. 

The event, which was organised by the Party's Central Committee, took place at the Piraeus' Municipal Theatre, just a few metres from the historic building when, on November 1918, the founding congress of SEKE (Socialist Labour Party of Greece), later KKE, was held. 

The General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, was the major speaker, presenting the Declaration of the Central Commitee for the Party's 100 years which was published on "Rizospastis" on Saturday 13th January. The event also included a magnificent cultural performance dedicated to the 100 years of the KKE's existence and activity.

Macedonia naming dispute: Commentary by the KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas

In an interview to "Real FM" radio on Friday 19th January, the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas was asked about the ongoing developments in the naming dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Below you can read abstracts from D.Koutsoumbas' answers to the questions regarding this matter:

"It is clear that during this period, the Greek government and to a certain degree the government of Skopje as well, are facing powerful pressures for a solution in the naming issue, especially from the side of the USA and NATO. These powers are keen for the accession of FYROM in NATO because, as well know, the contradictions and competitions, especially in the Balkans, are very intense.

Large economic interests are clashing and Russia does not want to lose its influence that traditional has in the Balkan region and the USA are interested to abstract countries from Russia's influence and to integrate them in the so-called euroatlantic axis, NATO and the EU. […] For that reason, according to our opinion, the nomenclature is preceded disconnected from the other issues. Its not that the name issue is not an existing matter, but I think we must get out of this sterile nomenclature.

100 YEARS KKE – A century of struggles and sacrifices

The text below is a translated version of the first chapter of the Declaration of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece for the Party's 100th anniversary. The Declaration was published and circulated with the weekend edition of "Rizospastis" on 13-14th January 2018.

This year the KKE completes a century of struggles and sacrifices, remaining the only actually new Party of the Greek society, because it is the only one that struggles for the abolition of the exploitation of man by man. It was founded in a period when the flame of the October Socialist Revolution in 1917 gave a boost to the revolutionary labor movement internationally as well as in Greece.

KKE expresses solidarity with the Communist Party of Turkey, denounces the conviction of Kemal Okuyan

The International Relations Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece has issued a solidarity message to the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) regarding the provocative conviction of TKP's General Secretary Kemal Okuyan.

The KKE condemns and denounces the unacceptable conviction of the General Secretary of the CP Turkey, Kemal Okuyan, by the Turkish courts to 11 months and 20 days in prison with the pretext that in an article of his "he insulted the President of Turkey, Erdogan."

KKE expresses solidarity with the people of Sudan, condemns government's repression

In a statement the International Relations section of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece expresses its solidarity to the communists and the people of Sudan and condemns the local government's repression.

The statement points out: "The KKE condemns the antipeople measures taken by the government of Sudan in coordination with the IMF and the World Bank, which deteriorate even more the living standards of the country's working class and popular strata.

Berlin: Communists commemorated Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, 99 years since their assassination

A rally in commemoration of the assassinated communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht took place in Berlin on Sunday. Members and friends of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) joined demonstrators from the German Communist Party (DKP), the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and other communist and workers' parties and organizations, marching in the eastern part of Berlin. 

The march ended in a memorial which is dedicated to numerous personalities of the German and international communist movement, to the murdered revolutionaries of November 1918. 

It was on January 15th 1919, when paramilitaries burst into an apartment in western Berlin and seized the communist revolutionaries Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. Although neither had an arrest warrant against them, they were both taken prisoner.

Hands Off the Right of Strike: Militant demonstrations across Greece against Government, EU and Capitalists

Militant strike demonstrations took place earlier on Friday in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities in Greece, as thousands of workers gave a decisive response against the antipeople-antiworkers' plans of the government, the EU and the big capital. 

In Athens, the demonstrators gathered at Omonoia square and marched through the center's major streets. The KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas attended the rally, while the demonstrators announced a resolution regarding the prosecution of the palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi by the Israeli authorities.

KKE: "Syriza and New Democracy compete with each other on who is the best executioner of the workers' rights"

"The New Democracy party, apparently being perplexed as long as the SYRIZA-ANEL government has taken its job, bids in anti-worker proposals and competes with SYRIZA on who is the best executioner of the workers' rights" writes, among other things, a recent statement of the Press Office of the CC of the KKE. 

Earlier, in a statement, the centre-right opposition party of New Democracy (ND) had expressed disagrements with some of the provisions of the new antiworkers' bill forwarded by the government. However, ND agrees on the new law's amendment which actually tries to abolish the right of the workers to strike. 

Question of the KKE in the European Parliament about the prosecution of palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi

The delegation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) at the European Parliament denounced the provocative prosecution of the 16 year-old palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi by the Israeli authorities and submitted a question to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

In his question to F.Mogherini, the KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis mentioned that Israel escalates its aggressiveness, through the recent provocative arrest of the 16 year-old palestinian Ahed Tamimi and the 12 charges filled against her by the Israeli court because she scuffled with Israel soldiers in the West Bank. Papadakis added that before the incident, the occupational israeli forces had shoot Tamimi's 14 year-old cousin and had invaded her house.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: We draw conclusions, we become stronger - ДИМИТРИС КУЦУМБАС (КПГ): ИЗВЛЕКАЕМ УРОКИ, СТАНОВИМСЯ СИЛЬНЕЕ

ARTICLE OF THE GS OF THE CC OF THE KKE DIMITRIS KOUTSOUMBAS IN THE RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER “SOVETSKAYA ROSSIYA”.

It is with particular joy that I address via the pages of the historical newspaper "Sovetskaya Rossiya" the workers of Russia, of the country where the "ice broke", as Lenin said, where "the way has been shown" as regards the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the construction of the new socialist-communist society. 

The consequences of the counterrevolution and the overthrow of socialism did not cloud the eyes, mind and judgment of the communists of Greece, the KKE. Indeed on the 28th of December 1991, a few hours after the red flag was taken down from the Kremlin, Rizospastis, the journalistic organ of the CC of the KKE, wrote on its historic front page: "Comrades, hold the flag high! Hope is to be found in the struggles of the peoples"!