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.

Egypt: Communist Party calls for a boycott of the presidential elections

In a recent statement, the Egyptian Communist Party's Politburo calls for a boycott of the presidential elections which will take place between 26 and 28 March 2018. 

# - State organs and institutions bear responsibility for turning election into a referendum harming Egypt's reputation. 

# - Governmental, parliamentary and media circles parading to consolidate policies and practices of totalitarian rule. 

75 years since the victory in Stalingrad: Statement by the European Communist Initiative

On the occasion of the 75 years since the victorious outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad, the Secretariat of the European Communist Initiative issued the following statement:

On February 2 75 years will have passed since the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, with the complete victory of the forces of the Red Army and the crushing of the Nazi armies, something that constituted the beginning of the radical change of tide in the war in favour of the USSR and more generally laid the foundations for the Anti-fascist Victory of the Peoples.

Istanbul's new airport: Galley-slave labour conditions and occupational murders for sultan Erdogan's sake!

According to interesting reports by soL international, construction workers held a protest on February 1 at Istanbul’s third airport project site, showing the reaction against the poor working conditions and non-payments. 

Around 1500 thousands of workers protested the working conditions, as their working hours were extended so as to finish the airport project that is still under construction. The workers closed the road to traffic while protesting the project owners.

The protestor workers say their shuttle services are inadequate and the food service is so poor that they have to sleep hungry since their work shifts and shuttle hours are irregular.

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”.

Kemal Okuyan- Don’t you understand the difference between patriotism and nationalism?

Kemal Okuyan, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and soL columnist, wrote an article on January 30 regarding the differences between patriotism and nationalism with reference to a famous patriotic Soviet song, 'Song of the Motherland', some lyrics of which were removed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in order to ignore the song's references to the equality of all people under socialism.

Don’t you understand the difference between patriotism and nationalism?

It was 1936. Racism and fascism were rising in Europe. Italy, Germany and Austria surrendered. The fascists declared a "holy war" against the republicans in Spain. Nationalism was polluting everywhere. Discrimination against the black people reached the highest level.

North Korea slams the United States' "government of billionaires" for human rights violations

Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Institute of International Studies Tuesday released the "White Paper on Human Rights Violations in U.S. in 2017".

According to the white paper, soon after being inaugurated as president, Trump filled the important posts of his administration with billionaires, who had "contributed" to his election campaign, and their mouthpieces.

Secretary of State Tillerson, Secretary of Commerce Ross and also the secretaries of Treasury and Defense are all billionaires from conglomerates. The total assets of public servants at the level of deputy secretary and above of the current administration are worth of 14 billion US$.

Free Ahed Tamimi: Statement of the Secretariat of the European Communist Initiative

Statement of the European Communist Initiative Secretariat.

After the decision of the Trump government to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the government of Israel has been emboldened, increasing its aggressiveness against the Palestinian people. The State of Israel intensifies the assassinations of Palestinian demonstrators, repression, arrests, imprisonments, expanding the settlements on Palestinian territory.

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.

This is Capitalism #6 - Number of homeless people in England hits highest level on record

According to a report published on the Independent, the number of people sleeping rough in England has hit a record-high – after a 73 per cent increase over the last three years. 

Indonesia: Suharto fascist regime's anticommunist persecutions are revived by the current government

Following the steps of fascist dictator Suharto, the government of Indonesia seems to revive anticommunist practices by prosecuting people who advocate communism! A recent example of such a prosecution is the one of Henri Budiawan who was sentenced to 10 months in prison allegedly for "spreading communism". 

As the Agence France-Presse reports, the Indonesian environmentalist has been sentenced to 10 months in prison under a tough anti-communism law, a legacy of one of the darkest chapters in its history.

Roza Shanina- The Soviet Army's sniper who became the nightmare of the Nazis

Roza Shanina, In Memoriam.

Ро́за Гео́ргиевна Ша́нина

1924 - 1945.

It was January 28, 1945 when the heroic senior sergeant of the Soviet Red Army, Roza Shanina, died after being seriously wounded in combat. She was 20 years old and already a legendary fighter of the Soviet Army against the Nazis. 

Roza Georgiyevna Shanina was born in the village of Yedma, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia to logger Georgiy Mikhailovich Shanin and milkmaid Anna Alexeyevna Shanina. After completing elementary school in Yedma, she studied at a middle school at the nearby village of Bereznik. 

In 1938, she walked 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the city of Arkhangelsk, Russia to continue her education. In the same year, she joined All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol). In 1941, after the Soviet Union introduced tuition fees for college courses, she took on a job at a kindergarten in Arkhangelsk to help her own finances. 

The Death of Stalin: Vulgar anticommunism under the veil of "comedy"

"The Death of Stalin" is the title of the anticommunist film which is going to be screened on cinemas. The two-minutes trailer of the movie is enough for someone to understand that it is another case of crude and vulgar anticommunism, of distortion and counterfeiting of History, as long as it shows Stalin as the "fear and terror of the nation" and other personalities of the time (e.g. Marshall Zhukov) as miserable caricatures.

But the text of the [film's] synopsis by the distribution company ODEON which accompanies the movie and has been published in the media is also revealing. Promoting the film, the distribution company refers to it as "a comedy based on real events": "On the night of March 2, 1953, a man is dying. A terrible stroke is wracking his entire body. He is drooling. He is pissing himself... The man is Joseph Stalin, dictator, tyrant, butcher as well a Secretary General of USSR. ‘The Death of Stalin’ is a satire about the days before the funerals of the Nation’s Father. Days that shine a sardonic light on all the madness, depravity and inhumanity of totalitarianism. Days that will see the men surrounding him fight to inherit his supreme power. And it’s all based on true events."

Turkey: Erdogan's AKP government bans metalworkers strike as a "threat to the national security"

According to a soL international report, Turkey's AKP government has banned a strike in Turkey’s metal sector, citing national security. 

The government decree, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, considers the metalworkers' mass strike as a "threat to the national security of Turkey".

Metal workers, rejecting Turkey's pro-capitalist Metal Industrialists Union (MESS)’s unacceptable offer that includes a 3-year validity period for its contract and a 6.4% wage increase, have decided to go on strike on February 2, 2018.

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.

Yankees Hands Off Cuba! U.S. government creates Internet Task Force to promote subversion in Cuba

According to Granma international report, the United States government announced yesterday, January 23, the creation of a new Internet Task Force, aimed at subverting Cuba’s internal order.

“The Department of State is convening a Cuba Internet Task Force composed of U.S. government and non-governmental representatives to promote the free and unregulated flow of information in Cuba. The task force will examine the technological challenges and opportunities for expanding internet access and independent media in Cuba,” according to the body’s official website. 

Lech Walesa wakes up in a “fascist” Poland

Almost three decades after the prevalence of counterrevolution in Poland, Lech Walesa realizes some of the monstrous results of capitalism's restoration. The co-founder and first head of the renowed anticommunist “Solidarity” trade union, stated in his Twitter post on January 23 that fascist organizations really exist in Poland.

“We have fascism in Poland. Those are not just some incidents,as Jarosław Kaczyński (chairman of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party), Mateusz Morawiecki (Polish PM), and PiS are trying to portray them. Instead of decisively tackling this problem, they just talk about it,” –wrote Walesa.

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". 

Greve hazırız: Thousands of metalworkers in Turkey to participate on a strike on February 2

As soL international reports, metal workers in Turkey have declared that they will not submit to oppression in the hands of capitalist plunderers, as the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) affiliate United Metal Workers’ Union (Birleşik Metal-İŞ) officially announced that they would strike on February 2.

The Head of the United Metal Workers’ Union Adnan Serdaroğlu said that the collective bargaining of the metal workers encompassed 180.000 workers and 180 workplaces affiliated to three trade unions in Turkey.

AKEL condemns attack on "Afrika" newspaper: "The moral perpetrator is President Erdogan himself"

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 22nd January 2018, Nicosia.

AKEL denounces today’s attacks by extreme nationalist forces against the “Afrika” newspaper in the occupied areas. The moral perpetrator of the attacks is the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan himself, whose recent references in Bursa bluntly targeted the newspaper “Afrika”.

As AKEL, we express our solidarity with Sener Levent and the newspaper “Afrika”, which is once again being targeted because it dared to refer to Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus on the occasion of Turkey’s ongoing invasion of Syria’s Arfin region.