Turkey referendum: The aspiring Sultan Erdogan and the militant activity of Turkish communists

EDITORIAL

The referendum which will take place in Turkey on Sunday is certainly a historic and important one. Voters will decide whether to approve constitutional changes that would replace the current parliamentary system with a presidential one. 

When we talk about constitutional changes we actually refer to 18 constitutional reforms which will strengthen the powers of the President thus giving Rejep Tayyip Erdogan a much more advanced status of authority (e.g. declare state of emergency, issue decrees, appoint government ministers, appoint half of the highest judicial body etc). 

Venezuela: ¡No a la ilegalización del PCV! Solidarity with the Communist Party of Venezuela

Comrades,

COMMUNIST AND WORKERS PARTIES OF THE WORLD

Dear comrades,

Receive classist and revolutionary greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), as we call on your attention to offer you an explanation on the threat of illegalization that currently weighs on our Party for the fourth time during our 86 years of struggles.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST BULLETIN #5

The position of the KKE for Greece's disengagement from the E.U.

THE POSITION OF THE KKE FOR GREECE'S DISENGAGEMENT FROM THE E.U.

Abstract from the 

20th Congress Political Resolution.

Translation: In Defense of Communism ©.

The Greek people can and must choose themselves- with their will and action- the exit from the EU, to put this objective on the forefront of their slogans, by organizing their struggle in such a way to simultaneously assert the "keys" of the economy, the wealth that they produce, with the transition of power to their hands. That consists an actual alternative for the benefit of the people and worths every sacrifice.

Tsipras justifies the U.S. imperialist attack on Syria

Europe's social democracy has showed once again its real face as an accomplice of imperialism. This time by justifying the recent barbaric airstrike of the United States against Syria. 

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras- alongside France's President Francois Hollande, Portugal's PM Antonio Costa and Italy's PM Paolo Gentiloni- participated in the southern EU leaders summit held in Madrid. 

The Associated Press reports:

"Yetmez ama hayır!": Communists in Turkey headed into the streets, raising the voice of "No"

Report from soL international.

While Turkey prepares for the referendum on April 16, the Governorship of Istanbul banned the rally of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) that was scheduled to be held on April 8 in Istanbul, claiming there was no adequate police force. On the call of the party, thousands of people headed into street across the country on April 8 to show that the government will not be able to silence the voice of the working people.

TKP members and the friends of the party came together in many cities with the party’s weekly journal ‘Boyun Eğme’ (Do Not Surrender). Those who say "Not Enough but No!" distributed tens of thousands of election bulletins of TKP.

U.S. aggression causes escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula - A view from Pyongyang

By Kim Kwang Hak*.

Source: nknews.org.

Throughout the centuries the Korean Peninsula has been drawn to a vortex of the vicious cycle of the escalation of the tension year after year. 

There surely exists a problem on the Korean Peninsula, which has drawn the attentions and interests of the world and also made a number of politicians, policymakers and experts to argue over the “solutions” for some decades. 

The dominant viewpoint of the mostexperts on the Korean affairsis that the “the Korean Peninsula Issue is the North Korean Nuclear Issue” and the prospect of its solution seems vague like a “chicken and egg story”. They are “differentiating” the Korean Peninsula by asserting that there should never be nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and the possession of the nuclear weapons by the DPRK invites more tension on the Korean Peninsula. 

Communist Youths in Thessaloniki: "Solidarity with the refugees. Our enemy is capitalism"

Singing the 'Internationale' with the fists raised.

In a political event held in Thessaloniki, Greece on Saturday afternoon, communist youth organisations from six countries (Greece, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Serbia and Germany) declared their internationalist solidarity to the refugees. The event was organised by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) and was attended by representatives of five communist youths:

The Socialist German Workers Youth; The Collective of Communist Youths - Spain ; The Young Communists Front - Italy; The League of Yugoslav Communist Youth- Serbia and the Communist Youth of Turkey.

"Hands off the Communist Party of Turkey": KKE sends solidarity message to the CC of TKP

On the occasion of the decision by the Turkish authorities to ban the political rally of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) on April 8, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) send the following message of solidarity to the CC of TKP:

"Dear comrades,

The KKE decisively condemns the antidemocratic decision of the Turkish authorities to ban the political rally of the TKP on April 8 and expresses its full internationalist solidarity to your Party, to the communists in Turkey.

KKE: Close down the Souda U.S. Naval Base; Greece out of the imperialist plans and wars

In a statement regarding the recent air strikes of the USA in Syria, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) points out the following:

"The KKE denounces the attack of the USA against Syria with the use of missiles from american warships in the Mediterranean and expresses its solidarity to the much afflicted Syrian people.

The people know that the USA and their allies, which created criminal organisations like "Al Qaeda" and the "Islamic State", highlight and utilize pretenses in order to justify the interventions and the imperialist wars in Syria, Iraq, in the broader region of the Middle East and Northern Africa, which consists field of fierce antagonisms, with the people being the victims. They did the same in the past too.

PAME calls for demonstrations on April 7 against Greek government's antiworkers measures

The All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) calls the unions to continue and escalate their fight against the unified attack of the Government – the Capital – the European Union, with massive participation of the workers in the demonstrations of PAME all over Greece in April 7. 

In Athens the demonstration is going to take place at Omonia Square at 6.30 pm, in Thessaloniki at Venizelos statue at 6.30 and in Piraeus at Karaiskaki Sq. same time.

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas is going to participate in the demonstration at Athens' Omonia sq.

Ecuador: Lenin Moreno's social democracy is not the answer to capitalist barbarity

EDITORIAL 

"It's Official", reads the report of teleSUR, "Lenin Moreno elected President of Ecuador". Ecuadorean eleciton authorities made the results of the presidential election official Tuesday, announcing a win for renowned disability activist and former vice president Lenin Moreno of President Rafael Correa's governing Alianza Pais party. With 99.65 percent of the votes counted, the National Electoral Council, known as CNE, said the trend of Moreno's win was irreversible and that the results showed the will of the Ecuadoreans".

KKE: Full solidarity with Venezuela's Communist Party, denounces electoral ban threats

In a statement, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) expresses its solidarity to the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and denounces the threats by the National Electoral Council to exclude it from the elections:

"The KKE denounces in the most decisive way the threat of ban of the CP of Venezuela by the country's National Electoral Council, firmly standing by the side of the communists and will strengthen the efforts for the mass expression of the international solidarity. 

Leningrad's Metro explosion: Solidarity with the working class and people of Russia

An explosion in the Leningrad (St. Petersburg) Metro has left at least 14 people dead and 51 injured. Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a terrorist probe into the incident. Another explosive device has also been found and defused. The explosion happened as the train was travelling between the stations Tekhnologichesky Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad of the Leningrad Metro, the National Antiterrorism Committee confirmed.

In its statement, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), noted the following as regards the explosion on the Leningrad (St Petersburg) Metro:

Moments from the KKE's 20th Congress and the new Central Committee

The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) concluded its works on Sunday by electing the Central Committee of the Party. Below you can see photographic moments from the Congress as well as the full list of the CC members:

"Istanbul says No!": Turkish communists defy Erdogan government's ban of rally

According to soL International, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) made a public statement upon the government's ban on the rally that is scheduled to be held on April 2 with the slogan, 'İstanbul says no'. TKP calls the people to come together at a meeting on April 9. 

The Governorship of İstanbul has banned the TKP's rally scheduled for April 2 under the slogan of “İstanbul says ‘no’!”, on March 31, just  2 days before the meeting.

Since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds pro-‘yes’ campaign meetings across the country in the run-up to the referendum, the Communist Party of Turkey reacted the ban of the rally with a public declaration.

THE PEOPLE STILL CONTINUE TO SAY ‘NO’!

20th KKE Congress: The international communist movement praises the contribution of the KKE

By Nikos Mottas.

More than 100 are the communist and workers' parties which have sent letters of solidarity and greetings to the Cenral Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on the occasion of the Party's 20th Congress. 

From Latin America to the Far East, communists highlight the significant contribution of the KKE in the efforts for the reconstruction and strengthening of the international communist and workers movement, as well as for the Party's internationalist solidarity. Here are some characteristic examples:

NIKOS BELOYANNIS, The Man with the Carnation: Always alive in the hearts and consciousness of the people

By Nikos Mottas.

It was in the dawn of Sunday 30th March 1952 when his heart stopped beating. The bullets of the firing squad gave an end to the lifes of the KKE Central Committee member Nikos Beloyannis and three of his comrades- Dimitris Batsis, Elias Argyriadis and Nikos Kaloumenos. The execution- murder- of Beloyannis was a crime of the then bourgeois Greek government of Nikolaos Plastiras and the U.S. imperialists.

Beloyannis, who is known as "the man with the carnation", was a cadre of the - then illegal- Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He and his comrades had waged an unwavering struggle against foreign imperialism and its local allies. For his political activity and ideological beliefs he was arrested, tried and executed.

“We believe in the most correct theory which has been conceived by the most progressive minds of humanity. And our effort, our struggle, is that this theory becomes a reality in Greece and the entire world (…) We love Greece and its people more than our accusers (…) Precisely because we struggle so that our country will see better days, without hunger and war (…) and when it is necessary, we sacrifice our lives.”  

- Nikos Belogiannis, abstract of his defense speech at the military tribunal.

The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) kicks off on Thursday in Athens

(Info from 'Rizospastis' / In Defense of Communism ©).

The 20th Congress of the KKE, which has as a major slogan "We strengthen the KKE. For powerful labour movement and social alliance. For the power, For Socialism", begins on Thursday 30th March at the Party's headquarters in Athens. Hundreds of representatives from Party organisations from all over Greece will gather at the KKE headquarters to participate in the works of the Congress which is held between 30th of March and 2nd of April 2017. 

The Congress' works will begin tomorrow at 10 am (local hour) with the presentation of the Central Committee's proposal by the Party's General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas. The opening of the Congress and Koutsoumbas' introductory speech will be transmitted live by the 902.gr portal, the 902.gr webradio as well as from Party's radio station 90,4 FM in Thessaloniki.  

ITALY: Communist Party raises its voice against the EU with a large demonstration

Sotiris Zarianopoulos, KKE MEP, delivers his
speech at the event.

On the occasion of the 60 years since the Treaty of Rome the Communist Party of Italy (Partito Comunista) organised a large anti-EU demonstration in Rome. The event was attended by representatives of Communist and Workers Parties, such as the Workers Party of Austria, the Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE), the Communist-Revolutiony Party of France. 

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was represented by the KKE MEP Sotiris Zarianopoulos who delivered a greeting message.

Messages were also delivered by representatives of local labor unions and workers' associations. The event was concluded with speeches by the Secretary of the Front of the Communist Youth (Fronte della Gioventù Comunista) Lorenzo Lang and the General Secretary of Partito Comunista Marco Rizzo. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: Who has benefited from the EU, the people or the monopolies?

In his article published in the Greek newspaper "Naftemporiki", the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas writes on the 60 years since the foundation of the EEC/EU (Treaty of Rome):

"The anniversary of the 60 years since the foundation of the EEC and later of the EU is celebrated by her founders, the capitalist member-states, the monopolies of the european states. Because the EU is their own creation for their own interests. It is not celebrated by the people of her member-states, because the EU has never been, is not nor can become people's EU. 

An apologist of Imperialism: Slavoj Žižek and NATO's war in Yugoslavia

By Nikos Mottas.

He is regarded by many as one of the most important living philosophers. Slavoj Žižek, the Slovenian psychoanalytical philosopher who poses himself as a Hegelian Marxist is the embodiment of pseudo-left intellectuality. A few months ago Žižek had endorsed billionaire Donald Trump for the U.S. presidential elections. A few years ago, the same intellectual charlatan was publicly defending and promoting the opportunist rhetoric of SYRIZA's Alexis Tsipras thus being a kind of "intellectual mentor" for the then leader of Greece's opposition party.

In 2015, Žižek had suggested that the antidote to the deadlock of global capitalism was... the militarization of society. More specifically he was writing: "Democratically motivated grassroots movements are seemingly doomed to failure, so perhaps it’s best to break global capitalism’s vicious cycle through ‘militarization,’ which means suspending the power of self-regulating economies.” (Slavoj Zizek: In the Wake of Paris Attacks the Left Must Embrace Its Radical Western Roots, Nov.16, 2015.)