Program of The Communist Party of Turkey

INTRODUCTION

The historical progress of humanity towards socialism, towards a developed communist society is ongoing.

This by no means is discredited by the fact that the 20th century in which humanity had taken giant steps towards equality and freedom, towards an order that would wipe exploitation off the face of the earth ended in pitch-black darkness contrary to expectations.

This heavy darkness, which marked the first years of the 21st century will certainly be overcome and humanity will free himself from capitalist barbarism, which draw him to a devastating destruction.

Today, developments strengthening the material basis of of such salvation and proving that humanity cannot continue down the road of capitalism have been taking place.

In 2008, the new and great economic crisis of capitalism began to mess up everything. The crisis, on the hand, renders highly possible that the hegemony of capital destroys the historical accumulation and achievements of humanity as well as human life itself at an unprecendented scale; on the other hand, invigorates the necessary social force to break down this hegemony through revolutionary attempts. Under these circumstances, either the imperialist-capitalist system will overcome its crisis by declaring the sovereignty of barbarism or the working class will give start again to its glorious march to socialism!

Under the existing historical circumstances, the Communist Party of Turkey envisages it possible that the choice of socialism may quickly become a lively issue, a real and urgent alternative.

Furthermore, apart from being an alternative, socialism is a necessity.

Humanity will not give in to barbarism; will not tolerate the destruction of all values.

In the beginning of the last century our world entered to an era of socialist revolutions. This era has not been closed, it is just interrupted.

This is the claim that brings the Communist Party of Turkey into existence today. Our duty is to gain the laborers of our country to the struggle of socialist revolution and to lead this revolution.

The last era of reactionism is the most atrocious assault on humanity that has ever been witnessed

The world capitalism entered a new period of economic crisis at the end of 1960s. Thereafter the growth, the period of expansion, which began after the Second World War had ended.

During the expansion period, in developed capitalist countries, the rates of profit had been rising on the one hand and welfare society and social state practices had come to the fore on the other hand, while the working class was creating massive union organizations and the left, though lacking revolutionary objectives and claims in most cases, was gaining social prominence.

Socialism spreaded over one third of the world. The existence of socialist countries, where hundred millions of laborers had the broadest social rights and planned industrialization raised life standards extensively; both restrained militarism and war by creating a balance against imperialist aggression, and generated an influence that restricted the oppression and exploitation of laborers who live in all non-socialist countries.

It was due to the laws of capitalist economy that the capitalist class had carried the day throughout the expansion period, which lasted for about 25 years starting from 1945. One shall seek for answers within the class struggle to the fact that the laborers had also generally gained advantages during this period. The effects of the struggle of laborers and the left, as well as the existence of socialist countries created an objective ground on which the capitalists on their own account “could compromise”.

Capitalism could not maintain colonialism and the gravitation of the liberation and independence wave that embraced old colonies towards socialism had become a real alternative.

By the end of 1960s, the necessity to stop the crisis implied a new counter-attack waged by capitalists all over the world.

Roughly speaking, between 1945 and 1970, the dependent countries and the old colonies of the capitalist system had become the scene of the great controversy between socialism and capitalism.

The balance of power, which initially indicated the increasing importance of socialism, eventually changed course with a powerful ideological-political attack against the Soviet Union and other socialist countries carried out through atrocious military coups staged in many countries including Turkey, and with the establishment of fascist dictatorships. The European social democracy and the “new leftist” circles participated in this attack by effectively utilizing concepts such as human rights and democracy.

During 1970s and ‘80s, by liquidating the social state and downgrading the achievements of laborers, the capitalist world started to open the way for capitalists to plunder, to marketize fields such as education and health which were perceived and organized as public service till that day. Fields such as arts and sports had become sectors. Laborers, of whom real wages gradually declined and rights abrogated, were encouraged to consume more through borrowing by means of new mechanisms inherent to the financial system.

The neglect of industrialization was justified on claims of declining profit rates; it was asserted that a post-industrial society was born; the concept of ‘development’ was dropped out of use. Yet, a part of humanity had not even met with the ordinary utilities of modern society, they were even starving.

Nature, social spheres, historical and cultural assets were also not out of reach of capitalist devastation. Humanity was left with environmental disasters, ignorance and corruption.

In capitalist countries, ideological and political campaigns had been organized in order to eliminate the rights of the working class. As the liberal and capitalist ideology rising, they tried out every way to equate democracy with the freedom of the capitalist market rather than social organizations and rights. Furthermore, during this period we witnessed that religious reactionism was reconstituted with various goals and content for different territories, and was pushed to the front as an effective weapon against socialism.

The international working class movement, at the center of which stood the Communist Party of Soviet Union and other brother parties, could not show the necessary ideological and political creativity and audacity to counter this attack, and gradually retreated to defensive positions. The retreat of socialism to a defensive position was comprehended at imperialist centers as the draw back of the opponent, hence anti-communist assault had been intensified. The deep rooted delusions, deficiencies and betrayals occurred in the body of vanguard parties led to the closure of an era between the end of 1980s and the beginning of ‘90s.

The demise of socialist countries provided new opportunities for international capitalists, who were searching for a solution to their crisis and assisted the demise with open and obscure intervention.

Planning, development and all public values and achievements developed along these lines were denied.

It was declared the the working class had withered away, communism was dead, and it is the high time of market democracy and market freedom. It was the end of history; history would not go ahead further, namely to socialsm, sovereignty, equality and freedom.

The outgrowth of unleashed capital and imperialist hegemony over and above present boundaries was blessed as globalization.

As the organization level of the working class fell back, exploitation escalated.

Integration to the constructs of international capital has substituted the national development processes of underdevelopped countries. Such integration implied the condemnation of people in mass to hunger and epidemic diseases in return for the revival of local sovereigns.

Salve labour and human trafficking rised again. Ten millions of poor had to immigrate as a source of cheap labour force for developed countries.

Economic crises also bring forward leadership problems within the body of the capitalist-imperialist system, which has a pyramidal hierarchy. This problem is resolved through fights for partitioning the globe, but not through economic efficiency. In this context, “The New World Order” designed under the leadership of the USA, which has been the indisputable leader of the imperialist system since World War II, began to realize after the inactivation of the Soviet Union, and was declared with the first attack on Iraq (1990). Imperialist attacks have been diversified and become more violent notably in the Middle East, which is one of the most important focal points in the world due to its natural resources.

It was propagandized that, with the fading of socialist countries from the scene, the cold war would end and the possibility of actual warfare would become nil. Yet the strategies to take command of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia by partitioning these countries came into life through a bloody process. The US protected her leadership within the system by atrociously displaying her unrivalled military capabilities, utilizing the NATO and also casted other countries on top of the hierarchy as “coalition partners”.

With the leadership of the US imperialism, the imperialist hegemony also changed shape in this new period. The authorities delegated under the pressure and the threat of the socialist alternative in the past to dependent countries, which were established as local or territorial powers, could be, and in fact should be taken away. This process was called “the end of the nation-state”. It was claimed that national borders lost their importance, and democracy could only be established through localization…

This type of ideological brain washing had its effects on all societies.

Another by-product of the rise of liberalism was the birth of left-liberalism, which endeavors to justify market-oriented theses through leftist interpretations. Left-liberalism began to rise in the period when the working class movement had started to disintegrate and communism had lost a great deal of its deployments.

Certainly, in this period centers of resistance against imperialist hegemony were formed as well. Countries such as Russia, which reverted to capitalism with a full-fledged counter-revolution a short time ago and China, which has been articulated to international markets, have not fallen under complete domination, and developed distorting capabilities against the world system imposed by the US. Cuba has continued to defend and develop her socialist choice pertinaciously. Positions have been guarded in Vietnam, and attempts to capitulate the Democratic Republic of North Korea failed. In Central and South America, where social movements against new colonization attempts blossomed, anti-imperialist movements came to power with popular support. Some of these governments exhibited revolutionary tendencies. Popular resistance against imperialist attacks, foremost in Iraq, has emerged. Peace movements arised worldwide against wars. As the new burdens to be incurred on laborers by the EU enlargement and the integration procedure have been unveiled, anti-EU tendencies have gained force in a series of European countries, and the scale reached by this opposition became explicit after the rejection of the European Constitution in referenda.

However, it is clear that the communist movement, which express the only healthy salvation program among all these dynamics and a working class movement at the desired scale under the leadership of the communist movement have not come to the fore. This is basically why the past years are recorded to the pages of history as a dark period for humanity.

The great crisis charges the communists with a historical role

The imperialist-capitalist system has postponed its crisis by undermining progressive achievements, dragging laborers into misery, shedding blood and by marketing all these issues under the name of globalization as the indemnity of freedom and democracy.

In the meantime, communists have not confined themselves only to criticizing and struggling against these market-oriented assaults against laborers.

Capitalists know one and only one way to find a way out of their crisis and to increase their profits once again, that is exploiting the labor more and destroying the forces of production! Capitalism is an irrational system, which creates crises and in order to end the crisis it exploits the labor to a greater extent and devastates the things that it created. During the last decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the capitalist system started to deny development, plundered the establishments of social state by privatization, and widely weakened its connections with real economic value by centering most of its activities around the financial sector.

As communists, we persistently analysed and explained that this process is unprecedentedly fragile and ready to explode. The events that occurred during recent past proved our rightfulness.

The sources of crisis does not stem from an error of capitalists or from unpredictable and accidental events . The crisis is a direct and unavoidable outcome of capitalism. The outlines of the road to be pursued by the capitalist-imperialist world order are also evident.

The damages caused by the crisis are planned to be charged over the laborers.

The fight for domination in order to resolve resource and market problems, which the crisis has rendered more biting has intensified.

The developed imperialist-capitalist countries at the center of the system carry the competition among themselves to a level of destructive regional wars. As the conflicts deepen, the material ground of wars at a larger scale will become stronger.

Dependent capitalist countries, including Turkey, are condemned to remain sometimes as audience, sometimes as the victim and sometimes as a mere instrument of the fights waged over resources.

The same imperialist centers are pushing the possibility of war towards the belt of dependent countries. Another matter complementing the act of charging the results of crisis over laborers and the rising possibility of war in the territories of dependent countries is to incite religious reactionism, the tendency towards oppressive and authoritarian regimes, militarism and its indispensable element nationalism.

On the other hand, the ideological foundations that have been built worldwide and all theses of the systematic brain washing campaign that has been carried out for decades are collapsing. It has become clearer that the market feeds reactionism, coercion and militarism, globalization means rendering national economies defenseless against international crises, the exportation of crises as rapidly as possible. Developed capitalist countries promise to the dependent countries to set their people against each other, not projects of civilization.

As lies have come to light so explicitly at a large scale, the capitalist domination has no other alternative to present to the masses in the short-run as a new, systematic and convincing ideology. Under such circumstances, exploited laborers and the oppressed people will inevitably look for pursuits other than the clichés imposed by capital.

The revival of communism to the position it deserves as a realistic liberation program before laboring masses could only be a result of the struggles waged by communist parties in all countries.

The Communist Party of Turkey faces this duty.

The establishment of socialism in Turkey is possible and a necessity

Our country is a capitalist country of middle-level development. The process of transition to capitalism, which primarily began in the 19th century, has continued for a long time on the basis of a weak capitalist class and an utterly limited industrial structure. The Ottoman country embaked on a progressive and westernist reform adventure so as to win back the positions lost in the competition with the colonialist capitalist countries turned out to be a tragedy as a result of the direct domination strategies of these colonialist powers over the Middle East. Hence, while trying to get integrated into the capitalist world, the Ottoman Empire was faced with an exploitation plan.

This plan was repelled with a salvation war against imperialism waged in our country. This war waged by social and political forces mobilized by bourgeois revolution was born in an international conjuncture made favorable by the 1917 Great October Revolution and succeeded with the help of the revolutionary power of the first socialist country.

But right after national salvation, the local bourgeoise finally that consolidated its power began to take the historical steps through the wall that Ottoman had bumped before. The Republic of Turkey was admitted to the capitalist-imperialist system as a dependent and underdeveloped member, only on condition that she pursues the role of being an outpost against the Soviet Union, which sincerely contributed to her own birth.

Capitalism in Turkey progressed under these conditions and became the dominant social system.
The progression of the national salvation war untill the final transition to capitalism had other direct results also:

The new dominant class avoided to organize secularism as a social enlightement movement and then utilized religious reactionism as a very important source for leading the people to destitution before the exploitative order. Later on, when the working class movement and the left had begun to rise, religious reactionism with its anti-communist and anti-revolutionary characteristic was organised by the state itself, which claims to be secular.

Capitalism rapidly purged populist characteristics from the new system and established an oppressive order.

The newly established Turkish capitalism also refrained from discharging Kurdish feudalism and integrating the poor Kurdish peasants to the working class of modern capitalism. Instead of a “revolutionary transformation” that includes thrusting out a hand to the Kurdish people and, as necessarily implied by this, to foster a mass movement, the state prefered to build an alliance with Kurdish sovereigns. Thereby, Kurdish laborers have been discriminated, their identities have been denied and their national democratic rights have been extorted.

Apart from the limited experiences of uprising before, the laborers of Turkey began to get organized as a side in social struggles mainly in 1960s. Our working class had gained the experience of organizing politically and in trade unions, taken part in important struggles, and from time to time turned its face to the left. The patriotic and revolutionary thought found roots among intellectuals and students, and strong social movements based on them had emerged.

The military coups of March 12, 1971 and September 12, 1980 tried to confront these struggles. The capitalist class was hoping that the left, physically weakened by these coups, would totally surrender as a result of the intense reactionism imposed during 1980s.

Although these attempts led to heavy devastation, the goal to eliminate the communist movement could not be reached.

The Communist Party of Turkey is the best example of the failure of capitalist class’ plan to annihilate the left. The fact that Turkey is approaching rapidly to destruction under the conditions of capitalism is gradually being admitted by more, and once again, this clearly indicates the failure of this attempt.

In this day and age, it is clear that any pursuit of alternatives other than socialism will be disappointed by the imperialist-capitalist system. The economic, social and political problems of Turkey cannot be solved by an alternative except socialism. Speaking concretely, socialism is the precondition of deepening secularism in Turkish society and living it as a process of enlightement; securing economic, social, military and cultural independence; granting equal rights to Kurdish people, and establishing a democratic political structure.

The capitalist level of development, which has already reached to the extent to determine all social relations and structures; the fact that major problems stem from the functioning of the capitalist system, and the material existence of our working class compose the objective base for the socialist revolution in Turkey.

The working class of Turkey is a united whole consisting of Turks, Kurds and other national and ethnical elements. It is necessary to take this unified structure into account in the organization of the working class.

The revolution of Turkey will have a socialist character

Unlike the Ottoman Empire, which had been occupied, divided and put into a colonial statue after attempting to be a part of the world capitalist order for approximately hundred years, the imperialist system came to terms with capitalist Turkey for a while and embraced her as a result of the multi-dimensional needs of its struggle against socialism.

But in fact, the harsh reality of histo-incompatibility between Turkey and imperialism was only delayed for a while. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union beginning from 1990s, the imperialist-capitalist system started to see Turkey under a different light.

The changing domination strategy of imperialism naturally comprises the Middle East, hence requires a transformation of Turkey by counter-revolutionary interventions. This transformation, which began with the September 12, 1980 military coup and carried to another phase by the AKP government, can be summarized as a complete surrender to imperialism, ensuring the absolute domination of markets in conformity with the former, and the penetration of religious reactionism into the deepest tissues of the society.

This process heads towards the complete elimination of even the claim on independence and secularism, which are listed among the basic principles of the Republic of Turkey, and which shall be deemed among the achievements of our people as being part of the historical progress.

The liquidation of the Republic of Turkey for the sake of direct imperialist domination and on behalf of the interests of the capitalist class will lead to the complete submission of our working class to poverty and darkness, and drag Turks and Kurds into conflict as well.

It would be impossible for the working class of Turkey to take any further steps in any other agenda of the class struggle without standing against this process of dissolution and liquidation with anti-imperialist proletarian patriotism.

The movement to be created against imperialism should include Turkish and Kurdish identities together. The solution to the national problem and the precondition to build a brotherly union of our people who speak different native languages is to establish a common will to expel imperialism.

The Communist Party of Turkey claims that the anti-imperialist struggle of Turkish and Kurdish laborers exercised together on a common patriotic identity could win a victory only with the socialist revolution, and the process of socialist revolution could be deepened only with the anti-imperialist struggle.

In this respect, TKP does not comprehend the struggle against imperialism on the basis of political strategies immanent to capitalism and reformism, which is founded on the premise of a compromise between social classes. On the other hand, the main social stream in which our socialist revolution, i.e. establishment of the political power of the working class, progresses will be the struggle against imperialism, and a prominent ideological leitmotive of our socialist revolution will be patriotism and independence.

Building a new working class movement is more than possible

The laborers and intellectuals of Turkey have been exposed to really serious blows during the last reactionary era mentioned above. They tried to disorganize our people, sow seeds of desparation and discourage progressive intellectuals’ will to fight of for a better world.

However, it is clear that those who suppose these heavy blows would stop the struggle of the working class and cast off the socialist future of our country are deep in reverie.

TKP adopts the entire history of working class struggles, as well as Marxist and revolutionary left movements, the history of which goes long back to the beginnings of last century. On this ground, TKP adopts the Baku Congress of the historical TKP held on September 10, 1920 as its own foundation congress.

Despite all difficulties and drawbacks that occurred now and then, the working class and the revolutionary movement of Turkey have carried on a dignified struggle, which carried to this day values not to be put down. Especially since 1960s, the class struggles in Turkey took modern forms, and the social weight of the working class, as well as socialist thought and practice have increased.

Nevertheless, the grave damages caused by the September 12, 1980 coup d’état, the counter-attacks of bourgeois ideology in the international sphere, the demise of the Soviet Union had also profound effects on Turkish left. The Communist Party of Turkey had to re-construct itself in such circumstances. The present-day TKP is the concrete outcome of this re-construction process, which have gone through various stages within a continuous organizational accumulation.

After 2001, when the name ‘TKP’ was adopted, the foundation period had lasted, and a period of maturation, in which constant attempts to meet with masses were made, has started.

These attempts have been carried on in a period when full-fledged reactionism was in force all around the world and in our country. Imperialism attempted open military occupations in the geography next to us. Our country witnessed a period in which almost all public utilities were privatized. There have been attempts to define the notions of independence and secularism as crime, and our country was brought to the treshold of a civil war.

As all these were happening, we also witnessed the heedlessness of some part of the left, who interpreted the process of liquidation as democratization. Left-liberalism and the notion of civil society have become widespread. On the other hand, the effects of Turkish nationalism have increased on other parts of Turkish left. Also Kurdish movements, which originated from the left, have drifted apart from the left under the influence of both liberalism and Kurdish nationalism.

Such deviations have attempted to reduce the left into a harmless component of the imperialist scenarios, and to weaken the resistance against pro-market, collaborationist and reactionary interventions.

In parallel with these, there has been a downfall in unions and other economic, democratic mass organizations of laborers. The organization level of the working class has declined quantitatively and the class perspective has weakened drastically in unionist struggles.

The contemporary history of TKP, which has taken place under such conditions, is a resistance of Marxist cadres, vanguard workers, dignified intellectuals and the revolutionary youth against all facets of this reactionism; it has been the process of re-organization of the communist party. Turkey has attained a new vanguard party.

Now it is time to build a new working class movement.

The crisis, which capitalism rolled into, drives working masses to look for political alternatives. The crisis devoids capital of its ability to draw a new ideological-political framework to persuade masses. Objectively, it is now much more possible than it used to be in the near past that the working people to get mobilized in masses and shape a new class movement on this ground. The Communist Party of Turkey is determined to seize this opportunity through a revolutionary perspective.

The destiny of humanity is being determined: Either socialism or barbarism!

The Communist Party of Turkey adopts the duty to organize this historical onset. Every one should be aware that either this onset will be organized and our people will launch a new process to realize socialism, or imperialism and its collaborators will draw our destiny as a profound destruction.

The Communist Party of Turkey calls left parties and movements, vanguard workers, pro-labor unionists, progressive intellectuals and all patriots for a collective struggle with this perspective and conciousness.

Socialism is a necessity. The Communist Party of Turkey calls for all laborers, man or woman, our people, regardless of the mother tongue they speak, and the youth as a whole to take action in the direction of this necessity, to get organized for struggle and join our party, which is the mind and conscience of Turkey.