Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP) held a celebration in İstanbul as a part of the 100th-anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution. In the celebration, organised under the slogan of “Socialism is not the past but the future” it was said that “barbarism will be defeated, the working class will be victorious”.
Some of the banners in the hall read; “Workers and the oppressed peoples of the world, unite”, “Long live the rule of the working class”, “The revolution will not happen without women, women will not be freed without the revolution”, “Long live the free and equal unity of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples” and “The truth, not utopia, the October Revolution is a 100 years old”.
In her speech, Selma Gürkan, the chairwoman of EMEP, reacted to government declarations on Palestine; “You cannot defend Palestine through cooperation with Israel. You cannot be anti-imperialist by switching sides between Russia and the US. These declarations aim to deceive the public”.
Reiterating that, before coming to power, AKP got the support of the public through promises of ending poverty, corruption and restrictions; Gürkan said none of these promises was kept and that politics of deceit and dark propaganda is preferred. Stating that government’s defence of Jerusalem is hypocrisy: “You cannot defend Palestine by cooperation with Israel. If you want to defend Palestine look to the 68-youth. Look at Deniz Gezmiş and friends. You are not anti-imperialist when you switch sides between Russia and the US. Let us explain again: anti-imperialism means destroying the impositions of all imperialist camps, including Russia and the US; it means the sacking of all warmongering organisations like NATO from your country; the closing down of all military bases built as a part of this exploitation; it is not just statements and lies. These declarations aim to deceive the population.
In its policies, AKP harbours all that is rotten within capitalism, which will be destroyed. Socialism will continue to be their nightmare, it will light the way to the future for all the oppressed peoples. We will win again.”
Writer Adnan Özyalçıner started by greeting workers and labourers. “What will be the light in the darkness we find ourselves in and stop injustice, tyranny, lack of freedom is the light and guidance of the one-hundred-year-old revolution of the workers.” Özyalçıner continued: “In building a world where peace rules; where all the benefits, beauty and riches of the civilisation created by our labour is shared equally; where wars and exploitation is no more and the world is free; a world that is democrat to the core; the one-hundred-year-old fight of the workers is now also our fight. It is. It has to be. All together…”
Following messages from workers, writers and politicians, a video message from Raul Marco, of the Spanish Communist Party ML, was shown. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal
