"Long live the joint struggle of the KKE and the TKP!" — Message by Dimitris Koutsoumbas

Recently, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) celebrated the 100th anniversary of its foundation, while a few weeks earlier it held its 13th congress, under difficult conditions. The CC of the KKE in its message to the 13th Congress of TKP noted, among other things:

"The communists of Turkey, honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the heroic Communist Party of Turkey, can take further steps. Turkey, but also the whole region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, need an even stronger Communist Party of Turkey, a 'revolutionary party, a party for revolution', as is the slogan of your 13th congress."

Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) awards KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas

The Central Committee of Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) has awarded Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece, with TKP Mustafa Suphi Friendship Award on the 100th anniversary of TKP's foundation.

As soL news reports, TKP announced the award with a letter written by the Central Committee. The letter is as follows:

Dear comrades,

Fire destroys Moria refugee camp in Greece — Statements by KKE and PAME

A large fire has destroyed Greece's largest refugee concentration camp in Moria, Lesbos. About 25 firefighters and 10 engines battled the flames as migrants were evacuated. 

Moria was home to nearly 13,000 refugees and migrants, which is more than four times the number the camp can officially hold. 

In a statement published in 902 portal, the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) demands the immediate closing of Moria urging the authorities to proceed to the relocation of the refugees-migrants to safe places, under all the necessary measures of health protection, in mainland Greece. 

KKE: NATO promotes dangerous settlements in East Mediterranean, fosters Turkey's aggression

In a statement issued today, the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) comments on the announcement made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that he had brokered a Greek-Turkish agreement to begin 'technical talks' on "establishing deconfliction mechanisms" in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The statement of the KKE is as follows:

Turkish lawyer Ebru Timtik dies after 238 days of death fasting

In a message posted on Twitter, the People's Law Bureau announced the death of Ebru Timtik, a lawyer from Turkey who was on the 238th day of death fasting demanding a "fair trial". 

Timtik, whose health condition had been deteriorated lately, was held at Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul's Bakırköy.

A member of the Proggerssive Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), Timtik was sentenced to 13 years 6 months in prison for "terrorism-related" offenses following a deeply flawed trial in March 2019. Her partner, also a lawyer-member of ÇHD, Aytaç Ünsal, was jailed for 10 years. 

KKE: Turkey’s aggression in East Mediterranean is fostered by the U.S, NATO and EU

The situation in eastern Mediterranean and the tensions between Turkey and Greece was one of the major issues discussed during the extraordinary EU Foreign Ministers Council which was concluded on Friday. Earlier, Greece’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met with the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Vienna.  

Referring to his meeting with Pompeo, Dendias expressed his satisfaction for the “clear stance of the State Department” against Turkey’s provocations, thanking the U.S. Secretary of State on behalf of the Greek government. He also expressed satisfaction for the EU partners’ “support to Greece and Cyprus”. 

Nobel Peace Prize 2021 to Cuban doctors: Joint statement by Greek and Turkish friends of Cuba

While the bourgeois classes of Turkey and Greece, alongside their imperialist "allies" U.S-NATO-EU, have turned East Mediterranean into a region of continuous conflict for the interests of their monopolies, the friends and supporters of Cuba in both sides of the Aegean Sea send a message of solidarity and co-operation. 

In a joint statement, on the occasion of Fidel Castro's 94th birth anniversary on August 13th, the Greek Team for the Nobel Peace Prize to Cuban Doctors and the Jose Marti Cuba-Turkey Friendship Association point out that the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize must be awarded to the "Henry Reeve" Medical Brigade for its long-time internationalist activity as well as during its significant contribution to the fight against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. 

Turkey's communists at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights, against femicides

Thousands of women took the streets in more than 16 cities in Turkey, on August 5, demonstrating under the slogan "We are not giving up our rights, implement the Istanbul Convention". 

In Istanbul's Kadıköy district, women carried placards with the name of 350 murdered women and the slogan "She would be alive if the Istanbul Convention was implemented". 

In Izmir, protesters faced with police's violent response and 16 women werre detained. 

Greece-Egypt EEZ agreement: KKE expresses "deep concern" over regional developments

In a joint press conference held in Cairo on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Greece, Sameh Shoukry and Nikos Dendias, announced that the two countries signed an agreement on setting up an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

The Greek-Egyptian agreement comes in a period of increased tension between the governments of Turkey and Greece over gas fields in Eastern Mediterranean. The situation has been particularly tense after Turkey issued an illegal NAVTEX on July 21st, blocking an extended area south east of the Greek island of Kastelorizo in order to carry out seismic surveys. You can read here a joint declaration of the Communist Parties of Greece and Turkey (KKE and TKP) on the latest dangerous developments.

Greek and Turkish Communists: No to a military confrontation for the interests of the bourgeois classes and imperialist alliances!

In a joint statement, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) express their deep concern over the latest dangerous developments in the relations between the two countries and declare once again that the people of Greece and Turkey have the right to live in peace and shape their future, against capitalist exploitation and tensions created by the interests of the bourgeois classes and the imperialist alliances.

You can read below the statement in English, Greek and Turkish language.

Turkey needs a strong communist party: The 13th Congress of TKP to be held on August 9th

In a statement addressed to the fraternal Communist and Workers' Parties, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) informs that the 13th Party Congress will be held on August 9th, 2020. 

More specifically, the TKP points out:

"The 13th Congress of TKP will take place under conditions of the pandemic, and more importantly, at a time when the "parasitism and decay" of imperialism/capitalism, referring to the great analysis of Lenin, have become apparent in front of wide masses, in almost every country.

Turkey-Greece tensions: The USA-EU stance adds fuel to Turkish government's aggression

Tensions in Eastern Mediterranean are, once again, at high level after the NAVTEX issued by Turkey on Tuesday, with which Ankara blocks the maritime zone south-east of the Greek island of Kastellorizo in order to carry out seismic surveys. 

From its side, the Greek government filed a protest demarche to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised the issue with the EU, NATO and the United Nations. 

“Today’s announcement of Turkish surveys in a section of the Greek continental shelf through a new illegal NAVTEX constitutes an escalation of tension in our region”, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued on Tuesday. 

Hagia Sophia: The EU-NATO policy stimulates Turkey's provocation and aggression

The European Parliament group of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) condemned on Monday the decision of Tayyip Erdogan's government to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque. 

As 902 portal reports, in an urgent question submitted to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis points out:

Hagia Sophia: Turkish and Greek communists condemn its conversion into a mosque

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's decision to sign a decree which converts Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, a World Heritage Monument, into a mosque has provoked negative reactions. 

In a statement issued today, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) condemns the decision, stating that the conflict is not between Christianity and Islam, but between reactionalism and secularism. TKP also calls the world's communists to denounce Erdogan's decision and the bourgeois reactionary mindset behind it, which obscures the future of Turkey’s working class. 

EastMed pipeline and the position of the KKE

THE POSITION OF THE KKE ON EAST-MED PIPELINE

The ruling right-wing party New Democracy, together with the "left" party SYRIZA, the Social Democratic Party KINAL/PASOK and the far-right party Hellenic Solution, aligning with the dirty plans of the USA - NATO - EU - Israel and having their eye on the "upgrade" of the bourgeoisie of Greece, voted on 15/05/20 in the Plenary Session of the Parliament the agreement for the gas pipeline "East Med" with concise procedures.

Turkish musician Ibrahim Gökcek, member of Grup Yorum band, dies in hospital

Turkish music band Grup Yorum have announced that their bass guitarist Ibrahim Gökcek has died at the hospital where he was treated.

After Grup Yorum applied to the Governor's Office of Istanbul to hold a concert, Ibrahim Gökcek had decided to end his death fast on the 323rd day and he was taken to a hospital in an ambulance on May 5.

Gökcek was 40 years old. His wife Sultan Gökcek, whom he married five years ago, is still arrested in Istanbul's Silivri Prison.

Turkey and Covid-19: Interview of TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan in "Rizospastis"

In an interview with the daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) "Rizospastis", the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) Kemal Okuyan commented on the Covid-19 pandemic, its effects on working-class and TKP's initiatives to protect the health and rights of the workers. Okuyan noted that they have built solidarity networks organized by the district organizations of TKP:

— What is the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey? How does the TKP judge the measures of the Erdogan government and the positions of other bourgeois parties?

Armenian Genocide 1914-1923: Statement by the Communist Party of Armenia

On the occasion of the 105th anniversary since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, the Communist Party of Armenia issued the following statement:

Acknowledging,recognising and taking responsibility for the Genocide! Taking the necessary steps to move forward!

24th April 1915 marks the date upon which the Ottoman authorities in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) began the roundup, arrest and forced deportation of leading Armenian figures from the city in what is widely regarded the beginning of a campaign of genocide against the then Ottoman Empire’s minority Armenian community…  A campaign that was allowed to continue largely without restraint over the following several years, the reverberations of which are still keenly felt over a century later.

Turkey: While Erdogan cares about capitalists' profits, TKP communists say "people first!"

The response of Tayyip Erdogan's AKP government to the COVID-19 pandemic has  primarily focused on the safeguarding of big businesses and monopolies' profitability, criminally neglecting the health and security of the working people. 

Fundamental rights of healthcare workers have been suspended, while thousands of working men and women (at least 811,000 workers between the ages of 18-20) are forced to work without the basic protection measures. 

KKE: On the death of Grup Yorum member Helin Bölek after 288 days of hunger strike

In a statement published today on 902 portal, the International Relations Section of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) expresses its condolences to the family of Helin Bölek, the 28 year-old member of the Turkish music band Grup Yorum who died on Friday after 288 days of hunger strike.

The KKE condemns the persecutions industry against workers, trade uninionists, party officials, artists, academics and journalists set by Erdogan’s government, which enjoys the tolerance- even encouragement- of the EU, USA and NATO. The Party expresses its solidarity to the people’s struggle and its support to their rights and freedoms.