Communist Party of Turkey: Mass event dedicated to Socialism and the Republic organized in Izmir

TKP organised a mass activity in Izmir on Socialism and Republic.

The event of TKP, which is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution led by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and the 94th anniversary of Republic of Turkey’s foundation in 1923, attracted considerable attention despite rainfall with the attendance of thousands of TKP members and friends. 

The event, 'Socialism will suit very well to the "republic"', started with a performance on the October Revolution in 1917 and its achievements for humanity.

Boyun Eğme! The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) celebrated its 97th anniversary

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) released a written statement on the 97th anniversary of its founding, said: "We are not asking for the impossible but the very possible. We lead the only possible way to remain human."

"TKP founded on 10 September 1920 in Baku. The resistance struggling the occupation in Anatolia met the young Soviet revolution at that city. That very day, the communists of Turkey gathered together in a single party and declared being the comrades from Turkey of the international struggle for a socialist World," the statement said. 

Commentary by TKP's Kemal Okuyan regarding Turkey's stance on the Korean peninsula crisis

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), Kemal Okuyan reflected on the denouncement statement of Turkey's government regarding the hydrogen bomb test of the DPRK. 

The full text of Okuyan's commentary published on soL news portal is as follows:

I denounce the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the strongest manner...

Previously, they loved to call the German Democratic Republic as “East Germany”, now they like to call the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as “North Korea”. It may be long and complex but still let us not use cold war terminology.

Turkey's Communist Party (TKP) responds to Tayyip Erdogan's provocative statement

Source: soL international.

Turkish President and chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made controversial statements on Aug. 22 during a meeting with mukhtars, heads of local districts in Turkey.

Talking about many different issues, President Erdoğan signalled that the ongoing state of emergency, which started upon the aborted coup attempt in the summer of 2016, would continue around the country with the aim of "defeating the terrorist organizations".

ERDOĞAN TARGETS TURKEY'S COMMUNISTS.

Turkey: Communist Party's Kemal Okuyan reflects on the first anniversary of the July 15th failed coup

A year has passed since the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey. TKP's General Secretary Kemal Okuyan answered to soL's questions on July 15, while the July 15th debate continued uninterrupted throughout the year. 

Below are Kemal Okuyan’s answers in the interview with soL news:

Do you agree with the "controlled coup" argument after a year passed from the coup attempt? In recent days, there has been a lot of supporting news and commentary took place in the world media that supported Kılıçdaroğlu's argument. Do you think the term controlled coup captures the reality well?

No. This means that Erdogan dominated all the critical points of state institutions on July 15, 2016, that he took risks by relying on his dominance and ruled the coup attempt personally after a point; the issue is not that simple.

Kemal Okuyan: "Turkey does not have any other choice. We need socialism as we need air and water" (Interview with TKP's First Secretary)

The interview by soL news portal with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of TKP (Communist Party of Turkey), on the results of the 16 April referendum in Turkey.

Source: International Communist Press, 17 April 2017.

soL: What can you say right away about the results of the referendum?

KO: We cannot talk about an arithmetical result. They did something they are good at, and they have stolen the results. Our logic, our mind and conscience tell us that ‘No’ won in arithmetic terms, too. 

Yet, there are other results. First of all, we see all they could muster despite all their repression, exploitation of public resources, and fraud; the picture speaks for itself. We saw that in reality their followers do not add up to more than 40 percent of the population in Turkey.

Kemal Okuyan on Turkey's referendum: "Everybody should stick to their own guns"

Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and soL columnist wrote an article on February 20, 2017, on the stance of the communists in Turkey regarding the upcoming referendum for constitutional amendments. 

Everybody should stick to their own guns…

By Kemal Okuyan / Source: soL.

We are facing a well-known front on the road to the referendum: the front of "yes." I have no idea about the covert aspect of the cooperation between [President] Erdoğan and Bahçeli [the Nationalist Movement Party’s leader who supports Erdoğan’s presidential system]; some mention blackmailing and some others talk about awarding. There is, however, politically and ideologically close links between them and between the social groups they represent. Furthermore, we can say that the "yes" votes are merged within the devotion to the Ottoman past, i.e. anti-Republicanism…

Kemal Okuyan- Bringing back the 20th century

Bringing back the 20th century…

By Kemal Okuyan* / Source: soL International.

December 14, 2016.

‘The 20th century is over now’ was the headline of Hurriyet after the death of Fidel Castro. This journal had stirred in me a particular feeling of disgust since my early youth; it is a kind of official journal, the strong voice of the dominant ideology, always great and wealthy, and steadyingly the flagship of the fight against communism.

Hurriyet, independent from its owner, is the representative of the intelligence, for whatever remains in the idiocratic system to be called so, of the capitalist class.

The headline of ‘the 20th century is over now’, without doubt, should be considered as a hideous ideological assault, including the intimidation of ‘now you’re screwed’, against those who cannot accept today’s world. However, this inferiority, this respectlessnes does not annihilate the intelligence inherent in the headline.

Kemal Okuyan: "The real threat of Turkey is the bourgeoisie. The big monopolies are the biggest crime organizations"

In the following days of the 15th July coup attempt in Turkey, the Communist Party, Turkey released numerous statements and analysis regarding the situation in the country and the immediate agenda of the class struggle in Turkey. The following is a commentary by the First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey, Kemal Okuyan which composes KP's recent line of politics.

Source: International Communist Press.

Kemal Okuyan.

The Gulenists had seized the state. This is what they say. But, the picture shows that the Gulenists are in some extent the state itself. ‘Seizing’ does not, and cannot, correspond to reality. The truth is totally the opposite.

I shall not repeat how and why the Gulenist movement had increased its influence, as we have talked and written a lot about this issue.

But I shall reverse the above question and thus focus on the answer of the following one: What and who is the state?

Marxists have long debated on topics like, which mechanisms attribute class character to the state; how the state serves the interests of the ruling class; in this process to what extent the state is capable of creating an autonomous area and how the apparatus of the state, in the existing context, will fade with the annihilation of all classes. There is a whole and very valuable sum of writings to comprehend and analyse the complicated structure of the state.

Communist Party, Turkey (KP): "Step into action!"- Interviews with Kemal Okuyan and Özlem Şen Abay

Communist Party, Turkey: Step into action!

Turkey must exit NATO.

The EU membership process must stop;

All military agreements with the US must be abolished, all relevant military bases must be closed;

All religious associations must be dissolved. Any religious discourse must be forbidden in politics. Educational system must be refashioned on the secular basis;

The support for the terrorist groups in Syria must be called off.

These are the urgent demands that must be raised and popularized after the coup attempt of the Gulenists and their collaborators.

The Communist Party cannot let the immediate connections between the unjust system in the country and what happened thereof be passed over while struggling for such demands.

Kemal Okuyan (Communist Party, Turkey): "Erdoğan cannot trust anyone anymore"

Interview with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) on the coup attempt in Turkey.

Source: International Communist Press, 17th July 2016.

Following is the interview of the soL news portal with Kemal Okuyan First Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Turkey (KP) on the coup attempt in Turkey:

SoL: Was the coup attempt surprising for you?

KO: Nothing happening in Turkey should surprise anyone. But more importantly, the possibility of a military coup had been increasing gradually. There are international actors and some power groups in Turkey, who are frustrated by Erdoğan. We have indicated the causes of this discontent several times, we are not making those up. Those are documented, reported facts. Could there be a rule for the capitalists saying there cannot be any conflict within imperialists, no giving away of their own politicians? Recep Tayyip Erdoğan served a lot for the international monopolies, he is still serving them though… But both he himself has made mistakes and also the inner conflicts of the imperialism have been deepened creating various tendencies some of which are not happy with a Turkey with Erdoğan. In that sense, a coup was predictable. Yet obviously there are surprising things about this attempt.

SoL: Some consider everything as a scenario?

KO: It is not a comparison but: I don't understand how certain people take Talat Aydemir’s interventions* seriously but not consider this attempt as realistic? This is because, everything can be visualised today. Image ruins fetishes, yet creates new ones. There is video footage everywhere, those create perceptions of a “fake coup”. Whereas before, everything was on narrative and documents and could be idealized. The fact that this incident has strengthened Erdoğan’s position does not mean it was organised by him or his men. The attempt had some particular critical moments, and if things had been different at those moments we would be talking about quite a different picture.

Interview with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of Communist Party of Turkey (Rizospastis, 15 May 2016)

COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY

Discussion with Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the Central Committee.

Source: Rizospastis / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

For the developments in Turkey, the activity of the communists, the difficulties but also the existing potential, we had the opportunity to discuss with comrade Kemal Okuyan, First Secretary of the CC of Communist Party, Turkey, and representative of 'Gelenek' magazine in the International Communist Review. 

- What is the political, socio-economic reality in Turkey? We know about the persecutions of party's members and yours personally. How does the Party react?

Turkey passes through a long and deep political crisis which, for the time being, doesn't include the financial crisis, despite the fact that Turkish economy is very fragile, with dissolution of state property and a continuous attack on the working class' rights, while there is a huge leak of wealth and high level of foreigh investors. The government evolves a generalized social attack, which includes the Kurds, the secular forces against religious fundamentalism. And, of course, we the communists are permanently the target. Attacks on our offices occur, (attacks) against our members with the accusation of insulting President Erdogan. I personally face prosecution in three different cases (one began on May 5th, but was re-scheduled for the coming September). The Party has agreed to intensify the offensive political struggle.

- What are the priorities of the Party this period?

Communist Party, Turkey (KP): "Karanlığa Meydan Okuyoruz" (We dare the darkness)

KP First Secretary Kemal Okuyan.

The Communist Party, Turkey (KP) held a mass meeting denouncing the darkness of Erdoğan's fundamentalism and calling for struggle.

Source: ICP, 19th April 2016.

Communist Party, Turkey (KP) held a mass meeting against the reactionism and fundamentalism in İstanbul last Sunday. At the meeting titled "We dare the darkness!", thousands gathered to challenge the reactionary and fundamentalist politics of President Erdoğan and the AKP regime.