In the Year 2008, the Republic of Turkey is

On the Brink of Disaster

Preface

The Republic of Turkey is on the brink of a disaster. What lies at the root of this disaster is the fact that the capitalist class, which gave the Republic of Turkey its character and dominated the Republic from the beginning, but exploited and plundered our beautiful country for many years in line with its own selfish interests and turned it into a nightmare for the working people and which now accepts and adopts the fatal blow that will open the country wide for imperialist pillage and hopes for help from this blow. The bourgeoisie in Turkey has decided to get rid of the gains of the Republic which are the only values they added to this country and which the workers will not hesitate to defend.

This means turning back to the old ways; this is a counter-revolution; this implies surrendering to darkness.

The Communist Party of Turkey will not hesitate to defend those gains, which now solely belong to our working people, to the patriots and to those who reject colonization of our country. The values already frozen, impoverished and soon to be entirely discarded by a greedy class will find the opportunity to survive in the hands of the workers and within a brand new framework.

Today, defending the gains of the Republic is on the agenda of socialism. 1923, which now goes through a liquidation process, can only regain its historical value with a socialist-revolutionary revival.

Being anti-imperialist, but keeping the present-day exploitation system as it is… Feeling annoyed as religious reactionism begins to dominate every space of life, but entrusting the struggle for enlightenment to the coward and hypocritical cunningness of bourgeois modernism...

All these views, even if they are not merely demagogies, are out of date now and as a matter of fact, they led their advocates to a tragic end.

Capitalism has brought the Republic of Turkey to the brink of a disaster.

Turkey’s economy, politics, army, underground and overland wealth, and culture have been seized. Regional wars as the artifice of imperialistic barbarism are knocking on our door. Separation, disintegration and even worse, a civil war between Turks and Kurds is conceivable.

In Turkey, the notion of Republic must be freed from collaborationists, religionists, liberal mandate supporters and fascists; in fact, from the bourgeoisie as a whole.

Before they free themselves from the burden of “the Republic”, Turkey must free itself from them.

Overstated? Let’s take a short tour and have a look at the facts of Turkey roughly. The picture we draw says too much, but doesn’t say enough.
Yes, the Republic of Turkey is on the brink of a disaster. The one and only force that will save Turkey from this disaster is our working people. Dimensions of the forthcoming disaster is frightening, the forces dragging the country to a disaster are atrocious. Despite this, and to our certain knowing, they will not succeed it.

If we struggle...

We shall overcome!

The Communist Party of Turkey

July 20, 2008

How and why Turkey has come to this point?

The Republic of Turkey is the product of an independence war, whereas disintegration of the Ottoman Empire was the outcome of the hegemonic projects of imperialism aiming at spreading through a vast and extremely important region from the Balkans to Anatolia, from the Middle East towards Central Asia…

The strategy adopted by the Ottoman Empire seeking to close the gap with the capitalist West beginning from the end of the 18th century sheds light on the history of the Republic of Turkey. The seesawing westernization adventure of the Ottoman Empire is an attempt to promote to the “premiere-league” which consisted of the world’s hegemonic countries at the center. In a world where colonialism and expansionism was the basic rule, Ottoman modernization focused on becoming one of the countries which set down and enforced the rules, rather than showing opposition to these rules. The social structure and political tradition of the country then gave no other alternatives.

It was a futile effort. The Ottoman country had missed the boat of transition to capitalism and the bourgeois revolutions due to a series of reasons. By that time, not the countries on the identity card of which “ex-empire” was inscribed, but only those which rested their quest for the world hegemony on capitalist economic and social foundations could enter the premiere-league.

Historical dilemma was epitomized in a series of events: Ottoman economy exposed itself to the world in the name of advancement, but failed to bear up against competition of global capitalism, hence tumbled down into a big debt trap and officially transferred the control of its treasury; Ottoman identity quickly lost its meaning for the Christian peoples going through a nationalization process; foreign intervention in the internal affairs of the country became something common and finally, the imperialist-colonialist front was making clear-cut plans to disintegrate the country. Ottoman state could do nothing else, but turned its course towards the West. The voyage to the West would inevitably end by running aground. The Ottomans, crushed amongst the “big states” in the World War I, sustained an invasion and disintegration. Although imperialism drove the region into economic and political despair, until the last moment the Ottomans did not want to see that rather than putting pressure on an independent and huge country, imperialism preferred to govern with more direct methods, namely, either by direct occupation and colonization or by mandate regimes.

National War of Independence is the rejection of this imperialistic decision.

It is true that the rejecting cadres as well as the political movement taking shape over this rejection came from the Ottoman ruling circles. A part of the dissolved Ottoman army and Ottoman bureaucracy was in pursuit of a new formation; so, they merged with the new intellectuals and the local powers and this merger was given a populist character, which was something rare in Ottoman-Turkish history.

In the Ottoman-Turkish modernization process, the initiative of creating a new country with the people under oppression belongs to 1919-1923 War of Independence and its leadership.

Ottomans envisaged nothing but turning their face towards the West insofar as progress, development and modernization was concerned, and they excluded all other alternatives historically. New Turkey’s definition of the path leading to the civilization that she would catch up with and overtake was no different than that of the Ottomans. Since, such historical decisions had to be taken within the boundaries drawn by the social structure and the class structure, not by the goodwill or by the decisions made by the leaders in person or in group...
The new Turkey determined her path as capitalism yet it was fighting for her independence. Main perspective remained the same. Turkey would make a great effort to join the league which the rulers of the world have crowded in already and which in fact, Turkey was unambiguously turned down by the same league in the beginning of 20th century.
At the end of this new period lasting almost a century, the situation of our country today can fairly be explained with a historical analogy. Analogous to the last period of the Ottomans, Turkey lost the control of its treasury, its internal politics went under the control of the external dynamics, exogenous provocations became everyday events, different ethnicities constituting the population of the country began to diverge from each other, ruling powers started to perceive this colonization process as the source of rent and the state mechanism began to disintegrate...
The historical opportunity the War of Independence under Kemalist leadership then encountered is no longer on the agenda. That opportunity was a strong neighboring country, which supported Turkey when rejecting the imperialist plans: Socialist Russia, which detached herself from the colonialist block with 1917 October Revolution.

The War of Independence had found itself a strategic ally in the strictest sense of the word. More concretely, weapons aid and financial support was received, the number of the war fronts became one less, the focus of interest of the imperialists multiplied…

In early 20th century, 1917 October Revolution and War of Independence in Anatolia were the two historical events that stopped the quest of imperialism for a direct hegemony in our region.
Republic is a major historical progress. It gets its legitimacy from its anti-imperialist stance and its decisiveness in breaking its ties from the old regime that had pushed the country to destruction. Instead of a series of puppet states and occupied lands from the Balkans to the Middle East, a modern Republican country that took a stand for independency was established. The people evolved from being subjects to citizens. Political power was stripped of its religious references, although inequalities were sustained, it was seated on material grounds.

However, the new Republic’s class character was obvious from the very beginning and this class character put on the brakes of the historical progress vigorously. Market favoritism was announced by the 1st Izmir Economic Congress, but in fact it was inherited from the Ottomans; the new government utilized Soviet friendship not as a real strategic alliance, but for the purpose of threatening the imperialist West, the left was pruned and the Republic was stripped off and purified from its populist character… All these would come to light in the form of anti-communism and anti-Sovietism within a short period of time.

It was as if the Republic decided to try again the westbound voyage that the Ottomans already tried previously in 18th century and ran aground.
The Republic of Turkey kept on giving “you can lose me forever” threat to the imperialist-capitalist world and gradually became a battering ram or an outpost of anti-communist policies of imperialism. During the Second World War, the ruling powers of Turkey sanguinely waited for the victory of the Nazis at the Soviet front; at the end of the war, in the days when everybody expected more freedom, the Republic headed towards taking the lead in the Cold War.

This policy constitutes a whole with its internal and external aspects.

Interruption of the pro-enlightenment progress of Turkey’s republican revolution and the Republic’s setting its course towards capitalism right at the outset are two inseparable events. As a wealthy exploiter class metamorphosed and took the hegemony of Turkey, the other side of the coin had been the foundation of an authoritarian regime. Instead of being a source of inspiration and a fellow to the oppressed peoples, Turkey was looking at the world from the window of new-colonialism; she has lost the opportunity of eliminating ethnical and national inequalities within herself.

It was impossible for a system built on exploitation to make progress and realize an industrialization thrust; because the exploiter capitalist class favored pillage, not planning; since the boat was missed in industrial revolution, any new attempt had to base itself on a popular movement. However, the new ruling powers showed no eagerness to change the former ownership relations and the social structure in a revolutionary way.
A capitalist Turkey meant undermining the essential achievements of the war of independence and the Republican revolution, that is to say, independence and secularism. Flourishing of religious sects in the next decade following Turkey’s membership to NATO is not a mere coincidence.

This path accumulates in itself dilemmas and also carries them forward. The way how to make the Kurds feel themselves as the owner of a motherland shared with Turks is quite simple: forming an alliance with the poor Kurdish peasants and abolishing the rulers who represent the Middle Ages, and emancipating the Kurdish identity and culture; paving the way for its progress hand in hand with Turkish identity and culture…

As the system’s principle was avoiding from the people and refraining from radical changes, they avoided this unique way and preferred to despise and externalize Kurdish people, leave them to the Kurdish rulers’ leadership, suppress them by force while attempting to form self-seeking alliances with those old-world rulers.

Capitalist Turkey took the riches of the former Christian bourgeoisie as a treasure that should be confiscated and so, chose the way of eliminating these segments of the society without discriminating between the rich and the poor. In Turkey today, if we trace back the capital accumulation process of most of the wealthiest holdings, this will lead us to elimination of Armenians in Çukurova and Central Anatolia, and elimination of Greeks in Istanbul and the West. While the capital changed hands, what remained to us were nationalistic hostility, historical hatred and irresolvable problems with the neighboring countries.

The capitalist path that generates deadlocks in every chapter made Turkey vulnerable to other elements of capitalist economic laws, namely, anarchy and crisis. Turkey failed to uphold its underground and overland resources; it never had a development strategy, so remained as a poor and underdeveloped country with its one step forward, two steps back tempo.
For more than a decade, we hear many western countries disclosing their illegal, but state manipulated counter-guerilla organizations against the “communist threat”, i.e. against any possible socialist, workers’ revolt. What happened in Turkey was the same. While capitalist Turkey tried to imitate the West and curried favor with them by the same token, NATO laid nuclear mines to our country to blow in case an attempt was made for socialism; manipulated the politics by the hands of the counter-guerilla under its control; organized several provocations, murders and massacres and staged military coups.

The left, the intellectuals and the workers, of course, have not put up with this blind alley. The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), founded in 1920, which asserted that national liberation must be complemented by social liberation, played an active part in anti-imperialist struggle, but was sought to be liquidated violently. In a dependent country where pillaging became a standard practice, discrimination and political pressures became permanent, TKP was the one and only revolutionary focus; against all odds it acted as the leavening agent in the intellectuals’ and workers’ movement throughout decades. In 1960s, leftist movement emerged as a far more dynamic force compared to the previous attempts; in the headsprings of this movement again people saw the same leavening agent as activists, peace-lovers, populists, Marxists, revolutionary workers, trade unionists, public leaders… The headspring of the development Turkey had experienced through 1960s and 1970s was this thesis: “National liberation must be complemented by social liberation.”
March 12, 1971 and September 12, 1980 military coups aimed to exterminate this great dynamism and activeness that represented the only way out for our country.
Capitalist Turkey was of the opinion that anti-communism and anti-Sovietism was going to be the key in the second westward adventure staged in our country. “Imperialism needs the strategically important Turkey” became a model. According to this, the rulers of the world were not in a position to repeat what they had previously done to the Ottomans, since they needed Turkey against communism…

1991 was the collapse of this model.

Demise of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries –more accurately counter-revolution marking the last decade of 20th century– paved the way for wars, invasions, racism and reactionism, and a new wave of barbarism surged. Usurpation of the rights of the workers, de-organization of the workers, impoverishment of the peoples, inconceivable inequalities… Turkey had he share of these. Since her path crossed with 1917 Revolution in her very foundation, Turkey was affected by the defeat of this revolution in more complex ways, which is quite understandable.

From 1991 onwards, the world capitalism has no longer in need of Turkey. By then, what the ruling powers of Turkey previously learned by heart fell into pieces. Imperialism once again laid its eyes on the Middle East with the intention of governing it directly, rather than controlling it through semi-dependent entities or nation-states having their own decision making mechanism and fields of maneuver. Afghanistan and Iraq are not just two unique examples, but they are mirrors of the future of the strategies based on dependence to imperialism. Furthermore, looking at the Middle East, one can clearly see from which countries/states will this new type of imperialist hegemony, that is going to be established in non-roundabout ways, begin shaking. Without doubt, Turkey and Iran came first.

Let’s now leave Iran aside; quite similar to what was witnessed in the last days of the Ottomans, our country is adrift nowadays with the help of provocations, economic acquiescence, internal disorder, threats and even scenarios of separation and among other things, its ruling powers became a part of this betrayal process. Imperialism is now keen on disabling the intermediaries, which it previously favored to have a firm footing and establishing its regional hegemony directly. What they call the New World Order is nothing else, but the aforementioned direct hegemony.

This decision is a historical revenge that must be taken from the Republic of Turkey, which in the past rejected the imperialistic plans in a friendly relation with the October Revolution and waged war against imperialists. The society of Turkey is disintegrating; the gains of the Republic of Turkey are being wiped out.

Capitalist exploitation that broke loose from its bridles is turning back to wild capitalism period of centuries ago. While the workers are exploited heavily, all types of reactionism naturally accompany this aggression…
In the year 2008, the communists are looking at the country through the objective of this assessment.

We are looking through this objective and defend the historical achievements of the Republic.

We are looking through this objective and defend our country.

We are looking through this objective and claim that the one and only coherent program to defend the country is socialism.

We are looking through this objective and see the bare truth, i.e. the only way of staking out a claim on our country passes through an uprising of the working class.

“Transformation” plan for the Republic of Turkey

Turkey is a capitalist country. The bourgeoisie is in power. The state is organized together with all of its institutions for the purpose of reinforcing and protecting the hegemony of capital and as an apparatus of oppression on the toiling masses.

Turkey is a dependent capitalist country. The negotiations that started before the War of Independence gradually put Turkey under the control of the imperialist countries. As capitalism developed and the international balances changed, the joints through which Turkey articulated herself to the imperialist system also became stronger. There is a tenacious link and a necessity relationship between class hegemony and dependence relationship.

The “transformation” plan aims at radically changing or completely abolishing the relative autonomy and the equilibrium that provides a certain elbow room to the “nation state”, which emerged after the War of Independence; implementing the regulations required to save the state from the cost of ideological, economic, juridical and political diligence it has to show in order to hide its class character by transforming it to an institution openly based on market favoritism; giving absolute freedom to international capital movements by making arrangements that will allow localization dynamics and weakening the authority of the central government in accordance with the new global tendencies; constructing an administrative structure that will adjust itself more easily to the regional projects of imperialism and facilitate the transition to smaller political units within the bounds of prevailing circumstances; restructuring Islamist and nationalist ideologies that may speed up the transformation, be useful in regional initiatives and assist in impeding any “independent” uprising of the working masses and placing these ideologies around a neoliberal axis.

This plan is the plan of the imperialists and the bourgeoisie of Turkey.

Only a socialist revolution that will abolish the dictatorship of the capital by reproducing the concepts of independence, political sovereignty and enlightenment around the axis of labor can spoil the “transformation” plan.

The capitalist dictatorship eroding the Republic

1) Hostility against the people

The process: From the very beginning, the system was set up in a manner to keep the people away from politics. Since its foundation, even at the moments it was mostly needed, “mass support” was invoked in a strictly controlled manner and by blocking all the ways that will encourage the people to show an inclination towards “autonomous” behavior. “Multi-party political life” was given another try after the World War II, but it did not signify an improvement in terms of participation of the society in politics.

The crisis: Today, discontentment and urge for a change accumulating in the society is put to use in the “transformation” needed by the imperialist countries and the capitalists. The same control mechanisms have been put into effect once again and all the opportunities for the politicization of the people in line with their own interests are discarded. There is a tension between the incorporated institutions and regular practices of the Republic and the subjective powers and the objective requirements that impose the “transformation.”

The revolutionary way out: The deadly impact of the “transformation” on working masses cannot be evaded by defending the “status quo” which until now has adopted hostility against the people as its basic principle. In order to protect themselves against the destructive effects of the “transformation”, the people must find an independent political solution under the leadership of the working class and this should go beyond the patterns imposed by the “status quo”. Dissociation of the historical gains of the Republic and the institutional structure of the capitalist dictatorship can only be the outcome of this independent solution.

2. Grievance of the capitalist class and anti-communism
The process: The hegemony of capital has been founded on distrust and fear. Before the foundation of the Republic, the weak bourgeoisie of Turkey had an aggressive and oppressive attitude towards the weak working class and the same was maintained later on. Counter-measures which sometimes sounded like paranoia were taken lest the working masses become a political power. As the working class eventually developed and took its part in practices of organized struggle, these counter-measures were enhanced; the history of the Republic was marked by brutalities against the workers. Naturally, this ended up with anti-leftism and anti-communism.

The crisis: Today, what pinions those who are unhappy with some consequences of the “transformation” is their class reflexes and genetic anti-leftism. The ruling class of Turkey as a whole has shaped the basis of the “transformation” for such a long time; it gave the very first impetus on September 12 and then endorsed the initiatives that would speed up this process. Behind this consensus lies the fear from the working class, hatred for the left and hostility against the people. While these genetic codes led up to the “transformation”, those who felt uneasy about the “transformation” were driven to despair and bewilderment.

The revolutionary way out: To stand out against the “transformation”, Turkey needs a left that frankly challenges the fear and hostility surrounding the country and introduces such an attitude that can shatter the decadence created by the genetic codes of the capitalist dictatorship. Hypocrisy and artificialness of all efforts of the capitalist front aiming to draw upon the left for this or that purpose should be exposed; in this historically critical period, any attempt to “keep the left in tow”, as it would mean to stripe the working class off its character, should be invalidated.

3. Incapability to sustain the gains of the Republic

The process: In an environment under imperialist occupation and in the unique atmosphere created by the October Revolution in 1917, the belated bourgeois revolution in Turkey found itself in a position to move ahead by adopting values oriented towards the left. While the values like national sovereignty, independence, enlightenment, etatism and republicanism are the innate values of the previous bourgeois revolutions, they are also the outcome of the need to take a position against imperialism, which in the beginning of the 20th century made itself felt with all its weight. By virtue of its egalitarian, libertarian and progressive foundations, the left had more opportunities than the bourgeoisie in terms of leaving its mark on the prominent values of the period following the War of Independence. The political power of the bourgeoisie has always been terrorizing the left since the very beginning because it terribly feels uneasy about this “rival” and fears that the ground beneath its own feet will slide.

The crisis: The Republic of Turkey has become such that it is not able even demagogically to recognize the values set forth in its foundation. However, seeing the problem as the capitalist hegemony getting rid of some of its burdens will be oversimplification. The said values have reflections in economic, political and cultural life. In a fairly large country, the alliance between those who have noticed the devastating consequences of a transformation that will dry out the source of the legitimacy of the system and the centers that cling on to “the values of the Republic” to protect their own positions and benefits has become aware of what kind of a cost the eternal anti-leftism will bring about. However, denial of the Kurdish identity reinforced by hostility towards the people is practically trivializing this awareness.

The revolutionary way out: National sovereignty, independence, enlightenment, etatism and republicanism have a great value to stand out against the “transformation” and also settle the historical accounts with the capitalist class, which is eager to get rid of these burdens. Reproducing these values and placing them in a revolutionary perspective around the axis of the working class is both possible and compulsory.

4. Blood brotherhood with reactionism

The process: The religious reactionism in Turkey has two dimensions interconnected with each other. The first is the permanence of the part the religionist ideology plays in the society. In this respect, those who point out that religionist tendencies were always there in the society, but in due course Islamist ideologies which in the beginning were deleted from the political system invaded and took the control of the political institutions, including the government agencies, are right to a certain extent. But, it is also a fact that religious movements were moved to their current effective positions that they play the roles corresponding to various needs of the imperialism and the capital.

The crisis: The attitude of the Kemalist cadres vis-à-vis Islamist ideologies can be summarized as keeping the Islamist ideology away from the political arena as much as possible and together with this, benefiting from the reactionary character of the social texture to the last. But, as the executive cadres of the Republic took advantage of reactionism as a political tool every time when activist ideology became effective in the society, the mechanisms that helped to keep the religion outside the politics corroded and the result is now obvious. Facing the religious reactionism that holds a pivotal place in the ruling mechanisms today, Kemalist cadres who always looked down on it as a “tool” are totally desperate.

The revolutionary way out: People’s freedom of belief and worship must be protected together with freedom of not believing. Besides, the religion must be completely taken out of the political arena and an enlightenment campaign must be initiated against shaping the social life according to the canon laws. As imperialism and capitalist class abuses religionism to reinforce their market dictatorship, labor front can only stop the capital by taking sides with enlightenment. Bourgeois enlightenment under present conditions is just a fantasy.

5. Americanism

The process: Presence of the USA in Turkey deeply hurts every self-respecting person who lives in this country. The prospective Presidents and Prime Ministers appear before their boss in Washington D.C. in order to be approved; high ranking commanders wait in line to receive a Medal of Honor; one must have a doctorate degree from a U.S. university to lecture in our universities. We have the murders, the massacres and the coups of this country scattered all around in our history. To get along well with this monster, we have given our youngsters, so that ours instead of theirsdie as its soldiers; we have given our army, so that it can put pressure on the Soviet Union; we have shared intelligence, so that it can launch joint operations with Zionist Israel to massacre the Palestinians and Arabs; we have given it military bases, so that it can pile up nuclear bombs; yet it always asked for more. We have become a country where the nationalists, liberals, social democrats, Islamists… all curry favor to the United States and now, we are getting prepared to give them our future!

The crisis: In order to protect itself against imperialism, the ruling class has adopted a subservience strategy, thus was dragged in its relations with the United States –which had already seized the leadership of the imperialist camp after World War II– to an extreme point. The state cadres and politicians quite soon felt what the consequences of Turkey’s living under the guardianship of the United States might be and apparently, ascribed an invincibility and absolute power to this country. These cadres are aware of the devastation caused by Americanism better than anybody else and feel uncomfortable about particular initiatives and impositions of the United States; however, it is unprecedentedly pathetic that they perceive doing what they are told by Washington as the only way out. As the dominant imperialist country, USA always asks for more; her intolerance, spitefulness and cruelness against even the smallest gestures of defiance has aroused hatred not only in larger segments of our society, but even within the critical cadres of this system. However, this hatred does not result in the weakening of the U.S. hegemony in our country, due to the habits created by dependency relationship, helplessness, feeling of servitude extending to many years and due to the fact that U.S. imperialism has spread its tentacles all around our country like an octopus. Nevertheless, the angle between the space this ever increasing hatred takes in the ideological formation of the society and the colonialist mentality dictated by the regional needs of the U.S. is an important source of distress.

The revolutionary way out: The idea that the USA is an undefeatable power has become something to be ashamed of while we have Iraq next to us. The USA is not undefeatable and must be defeated. Appealing to the USA for help, calling USA to protect and save Turkey, negotiating with the USA, imitating the USA all amount to unconditionally and unreservedly surrendering to the USA. Yes, Turkey will be de-Americanized. Because, the USA is an imperialist power, she resorts to brute force for the perpetuity of injustices and inequalities; she brings damage not only to us, but to all humanity. The left in Turkey realized its biggest uprising in 1960s with the slogan “Damn with USA imperialism!” Today, driving out the U.S. imperialism, which has settled in all tissues of the current system, is a the primary task of the left once again.

6. Appealing to the darkness of September 12 military coup

The process: Compared to March 12, 1971, which was the product of a similar plot, September 12, 1980 coup was a much more comprehensive intervention to political and the social structure. Together with international dynamics, the internal balances of Turkey provided the conditions convenient for a fascist junta; by implementing great brutality, Kenan Evren and his associates opened a counter-revolutionary period, which is not over yet. The coup headed for the abolition of all the elements of the society resisting against Americanism, market favoritism and reactionism, which constitute the tripod of today’s “transformation” and it was successful in doing so to a great extent.

The crisis: Asymmetric violence in the country and unrestricted liquidation of the left by September 12 regime disturbed the inner balances of the system. In the meantime, capitalism in Turkey failed to create a strong social democratic alternative to facilitate the control of tensions; as the political system shifted to the right as a whole, it failed to stop the extravagancies. Moreover, when the religiously fanatic movement that was allowed to exploit all kinds of freedom in the society by the support of the generals stepped in the political arena, the model of September 12, which was developed to restrain politics within a narrow framework, shattered into pieces. Besides, the segment that seeks to be a better bargainer on the issue of “transformation” was forced to find its political allies amongst the “nationalists” and “Islamists” of the society; because of the apparent pro-American identities of the both segments, it had to pin its hopes on the cadres mainly consisting of fascist triggermen. Interestingly enough, both fractions constituting the two sides of the tension today owe their very existence to the September 12 coup.

The revolutionary way out: What is more important for the left is this: September 12 was not just a military coup, but a fascist, anti-revolutionary coup that backed Americanism, market favoritism and reactionism. These characteristics of September 12 shall not be shrouded by an abstract opposition to military coups. Comparing September 12 with May 27 or February 28, and lumping all these together is not the way how left should handle the issue. The left may emphasize the pro-American and anti-left character of the military coups, but should not allow the historical attempts of the capitalist dictatorship to boil down to a general discourse of opposition to military coups. Our mission is to initiate a struggle so as to wipe out September 12 along with all its consequences. Aside from bringing Evren and other dead or alive junta leaders to trial, discussing Turgut Özal and Süleyman Demirel periods in detail, revealing all kinds of relations between the current situation of Turkey and September 12 practices, and submitting a socialist, not merely a “civilian”, constitution as an alternative to September 12 constitution are quite essential.

7. Hostility against Kurds

The process: One of the most tragic consequences of the Foundation’s drawbacks vis-à-vis the people materializes in the Kurdish issue. When it came to the inclusion of Kurds, the general tendency of Kemalist cadres to exclude the people has become a cooperation with the Kurdish feudal chiefs. Therefore, the integration problem of the Kurdish people, who did not have to feel themselves as Turks just because the Republic was founded, was delegated to the alliance sealed with Kurdish clan leaders. From time to time this alliance broke and the reactions showed by the Kurdish poor at certain times were harshly suppressed. But, the denial policy of the ruling classes never changed. As Kurds were totally excluded and their existence depended on self-denial, a segment of Kurds began to hope for help from imperialist countries. But then, in 1960s, Kurdish people pinned their hopes on the rise of Turkey’s left. People saw that a solution to embrace all the ethnicities in Turkey was possible. However, this path was also blocked, as it was then done in 70s, 80s and 90s, due to absolute violence exerted on the left and the obstinacy of the ruling class to solve the Kurdish issue by “annihilation”. In 2000s, on the other hand, U.S. and EU interventions in the region intensified and the imperialist countries took the initiative in Kurdish issue.

The crisis: Kurdish issue distorted the plans of the bourgeoisie of Turkey, which was in search of full-scale cooperation with the USA and European imperialists in order to protect itself from their regional initiatives. As the solution to embrace all the ethnicities in Turkey was rendered impossible, a pursuit of partaking in the imperialist plans came to prominence in Kurdish politics too. While the USA manipulated Turkish and Kurdish elements that were in search of a “monopoly of cooperation” with herself, the unity not based on so solid grounds in the foundation stage of the Republic became more fragile. After remaining paralyzed for a long time vis-à-vis the regional policies of the USA and the European Union, the ruling classes of Turkey left everything to chance and surrendered. Now what is on the agenda is a “solution”, the framework of which is mostly drawn by the USA. The bloody “destruction” and “denial” policies that were considered to be the alternative of this “solution” did nothing but strengthened the hand of the USA.

The revolutionary way out: In Turkey, a new “foundation” is possible only with a popular vein that relies on a predominant class character. This vein should never be befouled with “national” discrimination. If Turks and Kurds are to start a new life together with other nations, instead of describing one another as the “other”, they must really form a set of common values; they must pave the way for a political organization based on absolute equality and not granting any privileges to any nation. In this sense, the historical mistake of regarding the “Turkish” nation as the primary element in this territory must be abolished together with its all consequences. This is the only way of providing a legitimation for the name “Turkey” –given to the country long before the Republic, before the Ottoman Empire went through a disintegration process, just to describe a geographical region, rather than to indicate an ethnic reference– and of protecting the common historical heritage of all the laborers living in this territory against imperialism. In order to pave this way, laborers of all ethnicities in our country should take a stand and struggle against the exploiters and collaborationists from all ethnicities.

8. The European Union obsession

The process: Integration with EEC, EC and the European Union was declared as the national strategy of Turkey, which is still the case. From past to present, official authorities talked about European Union membership as a basic security issue. Actually, it became evident in the meantime that membership to EU was not quite necessary for Turkey to develop her economic relations with European countries, especially with Germany.

Turkey developed dependency relations with imperialism, basically with the U.S. in political and military spheres and Europe in the economic sphere, until demise of the Soviet Union; however, after 1991, a deep turmoil occurred in Turkey’s perception of external threat.

The Kemalist cadres, who utilized the opportunities brought by the War of Independence , the contradictions among imperialist countries and the panic caused by the Soviet Revolution in the capitalist world as well, preferred to keep clear off the threats of the imperialist world by lending herself to it, which in fact they never trusted. Eventually, this strategy found its true meaning in anti-Sovietism. “The Soviet threat” kept the Republic of Turkey away from the attention of the imperialist countries. On the other hand, as the dynamics of capitalist development within the country coupled with the requirements of anti-Soviet struggle, this strategy made the Republic of Turkey a toy in the hands of the USA and other the imperialist countries. By the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the baseline of Turkey’s foreign policy disappeared as well. Soon after, as imperialism started to restructure the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East, the ruling class felt that Turkey will not be spared from this trend and resorted to speeding up the EU membership process. However, membership conditions that have been never laid down for any other country before were shoved down throat of Turkey. Following the Customs Union Agreement, Turkey transferred incredible amount of funds to the EU, and the control of Turkey’s industry and agriculture has been left to the hands of Europe, which in turn hurt national sovereignty deeply.

The crisis: It was too late when those who lent themselves unconditionally to the European Union through concerns about “security” and who acted upon the assumption “if we get into it, nobody can touch us” realized that the same process meant nothing but the “disintegration of Turkey” for European imperialists. Today, the present rulers of the Republic of Turkey have not yet produced a solution to escape the threat originating from Europe, they can only think of becoming a part of it as soon as possible. Realizing that she cannot disintegrate Turkey without the help of the European Union, USA is also pushing Turkey towards the EU, for leavingEurope with a serious integration problem as well. This renders it impossible for the ruling class to develop a strategy relying on the U.S. only, which, in turn, deepens the deadlock in EU relations.

The revolutionary way out: Strategies such as balancing the U.S. imperialism with the European Union, making use of the relations with EU for democratization, carrying out a labor-centric struggle inside the EU etc. serve, in the final analysis, to the European imperialists inadvertently. The process is far from being complete and the working class movement in Turkey will become a real social force as long as it can resist to the European Union membership process. Patriotism necessitates a determined and consistent struggle against the U.S. imperialism and against European imperialism. The goal is to take back in the name of the working classes what we have lost, what we have given to the European Union, thus to break one of the crucial links in the chain of dependency of our country.

9. The tumor of NATOism

The process: NATO was founded in 1949 and Turkey became a member in 1952, paying the price with blood. In fact, surging soldiers to Korea for American interests is the summary of Turkey’s NATO membership. On the contrary of what is being told, NATO has always threatened the security of Turkey and created a series of tensions between Turkey and her neighbors, helped US imperialism to coil itself up in all critical institutions of the country, and rendered Turkey a country of political assassinations, military coups and massacres. Just like the EU membership perspective, NATO membership finds acceptance as the country’s national policy. But, “bourgeois consensus” over NATO is one of a kind. NATO membership was not even questioned as much as the European Union membership, which proves how deeply hypocritical and unfounded are the claims of independence raised by the agents of the capitalist system. In the recent years, although we frequently hear the complaints of the state officials about the “foreign forces” that want to separate and disintegrate the country, NATO continues to receive unlimited contribution, which demonstrates the dimensions of the betrayal of the ruling classes in Turkey. One can also feel this betrayal in the support provided to NATO in its rapid expansion after 1991. As NATO expands, it disintegrates and destroys the nation-states; by giving active support to these operations, Turkey runs towards its own disaster.

The crisis: Turkey’s ruling class is of the opinion that the best practice of their principle of cooperating with the imperialist countries for a protection from them could be realized through NATO. It became evident that Turkey’s rulers, who assume having the right to veto like many other countries, the right to express their views in decision making mechanisms, though formally, and the second biggest land forces within the organization as sufficient warranties, and who give too much faith to their indispensability for NATO, do not have the horizon to apprehend the world order after 1991. Governments who believed that intensification of imperialist interventions in our region after 1991 reinforced the indispensability and importance of Turkey have panicked as they see the dimensions of the interventions. Turkey participated with great ambition in the dirty mission that NATO assumed in the disintegration of Yugoslavia, but began to find it difficult to comply with the requests of the imperialists in the following chapters. Since Turkey restricted NATO’s presence in the Black Sea for various reasons and refused to send ground troops to Afghanistan, the pressures have gradually intensified. Besides, due to the unlimited support Turkey gave to the expansion of NATO, it now faces the competition of other NATO members that are as enthusiastic as she is. Romania and Bulgaria as members, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan as membership candidates discredit the “importance” of Turkey. Including Iraq also, which is not yet connected to NATO, but provides important opportunities for the U.S., such cases render it more evident how Turkey is stalemated as she helps the U.S. via NATO. Since there is no power amongst the powers of the system to resist the pressure created by this stalemate, one can easily foresee that in the near future Turkey will completely capitulate to the regional plans of the U.S. However, by this “capitulation” the Republic of Turkey hurries towards a big disaster.

The revolutionary way out: NATO is the enemy of our people. Resigning from NATO is one of the most fundamental goals of the struggle for socialist liberation. This goal can in no way be postponed. Starting from today, a strong political and ideological pressure should be exerted over the ruling class by marking NATOism as identical to high treason; it should be kept in mind that not even a single step in the struggle can be taken without eliminating the apathy of the toiling masses towards this bloody institution.

10. Market fetishism

The process: It is an indisputable fact that the Republic of Turkey pursued the capitalist road from the beginning. The ruling class has always complied with the requirements of this road; in the beginning, it utilized all means of the state to counteract the physical weaknesses of the capitalist class; in due course it developed its relations with foreign capital, completed a stage in which the assembly industry was the driving force; and after the period of import substitution, it handed over the strings of the country to international and domestic monopolies by paving the way for continuous neoliberal policies. The relative autonomy of the state vis-à-vis market forces was almost obliterated, and a capitalist dictatorship was established, within which there is no space for the working class to move and the entire spheres of life are commoditized. All material and cultural wealth, sovereignty and human resources have been invested on death by the hands of this dictatorship. The most critical enterprises were sold to domestic and foreign monopolies, some crucial industries were liquidated, stockbreeding was done away with; the country became dependent in every aspect of agricultural production, including the specification of the range of produce and the seeds; the international monopolies were allowed to dictate our energy policies, the country tumbled down into a big debt trap.

The politicians and the civilian/military bureaucrats of the Republic of Turkey, who behave the people most mercilessly when they deem it necessary, behave as timid as a mouse against the market forces and seek for the ways of seizing the opportunities offered to them to win a seat within the capitalist class. A small number of dignified cadres in politics and in the state that did not choose this way were either silenced or liquidated.

The crisis: The freedom of action was lost in the state institutions and the political arena, thus the Republic of Turkey was stripped off the minimum features required to be considered as a state. In fact, a country as large as Turkey is governed by “merchant mentality” today. One should not underestimate the adverse effects of this fact over medium and long term interests of the capitalist class and also over the missions of the ruling class. However, the major destructive effect of the market terror is on the toiling masses.

The revolutionary way out: The market makes everything it contaminates rotten. Today, none of the values lying at the heart of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey can find a chance to survive in the market economy. It is, however, not possible for Turkey to go back to times when the market was partly regulated by the state. Concepts like exerting limits to the operation of the market, mixed economy, national or nationalistic capital etc. do not match up with anything in real life. Turkey’s only alternative against market economy is public economy.

11. Public interests trampled on

The process: After September 12, 1980, the Republic of Turkey became a country where public domain has been systematically narrowed down, public services were liquidated and public economic enterprises were plundered by way of privatizations. Social security system was caused to collapse; people’s basic needs such as sheltering, transportation, heating, lighting, sanitation, education and health have been surrendered to market mechanisms. Our coastlines are occupied by domestic and foreign capital; our underground wealth are left to imperialist companies. In local administrations almost all services have been passed onto subcontracting companies; private security companies directly took over some services that must be under state monopoly. As of today, it is impossible to speak of the social interests and the public domain in Turkey.

The crisis: Putting the Republic of Turkey up for sale together with all its limbs directly affects its institutional structure. In a country where public domain no longer exists and where speaking of social interests is impossible, radical changes in fields such as foreign affairs, law, security etc. will inevitably impose themselves. As a matter of fact, we are now in the last stage of the “transformation” process. However, it is impossible for the superstructure to accord with the tempo of the transformation in the economy. Therefore, in the forthcoming period, one must expect new tensions, crashes and crisis to arise.

The revolutionary way out: Turkey cannot keep its head above the water without giving an equally acute response in the same context and in the name of the society to the assault carried out for the sake of selfish interests. Today, the inequalities prevailing at international level brought us at a point where total liquidation of the “public” is most probable. In Turkey, like in many other countries, people are on the brink of enslavement. This process cannot be stopped by superficial or moderate measures. The humanity will not be able to stand up without defending the social interests, public ownership and etatism as its present day basic concrete form.

12. Decadence of the society

The Process: The ruling classes intentionally, deliberately and systematically caused a social decadence. As they thought that under an exploitative system a bright and resilient population who has a sense of justice would cause trouble, drawing almost on every means, they worked hard to increase the number of coward, selfish, ignorant people who do not stand up for their rights. Here, military coup of September 12, 1980 played an unprecedented role in defiling our people. Kenan Evren and his associates spread around fear and apathy with their cruelty, irrationalism with their aggressiveness towards the universities, diffidence and selfishness with their coercion against the working class, reactionism with their fondness of Imam Hatip High Schools, decadence with the multiplying beerhouses, and injustice with their controlled courts. Right after that, Turgut Özal spread around “strike it rich” mentality, Americanism, consumption madness and TV-mania. Süleyman Demirel and Tansu Çiller governments did not fail to do their bit; all the following governments caused a heavy social devastation with their continuous interventions. Parasitism, ill-gotten gains, laziness, thievery, vulgarity, denouncing, exhibitionism, brutalism, despotism and tastelessness have become legitimate. Sense of justice disappeared. Worshipping ugliness replaced artistic creation. Our cultural heritage was pillaged, our language became corrupted and imperialist ideology penetrated all segments of the society. The education system is in the hands of market favoritism and reactionism; it is designed to create a youth who do not read, but watch television; who do not discuss, but quarrel; who do not listen, but make noise; who do not pay attention to the rightful, but worship the strong.

The crisis: Decadence has reached such a state that human resources have hard times to meet the economic and political needs of the capitalist class. The spokespersons of the bourgeoisie complain about the dimensions of decadence and suggest ways of solution. But, then again, the market forces as the engine of decadence conquer everywhere. As the hospitals turn into businesses, the doctor degenerates; as the universities become private, the academician degenerates; as the arts become convicted to sponsors, the artist degenerates; as profit avarice denies the law, members of the judicial system degenerate; as the army professionalizes, the soldier degenerates.

The revolutionary way out: Decadence will slow down as the society begins to struggle and stands up for its rights; it will decline when Americanism, market favoritism and reactionism is driven back; it will disappear when the capitalist system is knocked down. The antidote of decadence is in organized political struggle.