Marxist Leninist Communist Party
Turkey / Northern KurdistanTO THE REVOLUTION AND SOCIALISM WITH MLCP
MLKP was founded on September 10th, 1994. The documents of the Founding Congress (1st Congress) form its theoretical, political and organisational basis. This historical development, expressed as the Unity Revolution, is a result of the struggle conducted within the organisations and among the organisations starting from 1989 by the partys predecessor organisations bearing the thought of unity of communists. In 1991, TDKIH (Revolutionary Communist Workers Movement of Turkey) and TKIH (Communist Workers Movement of Turkey) were united. After a struggle lasting for years, TKIH and TKP-ML Hareketi (Communist Party of Turkey- Marxist Leninist Party Movement) gathered the Unity Congress and founded MLCP-F (Marxist Leninist Communist Party Foundation). And the 1st Party and Unity Conference realized the unity between MLCP-F and TKP-ML (YIO) (Communist Party of Turkey-Marxist Leninist / Reconstruction Organisation) and eliminated the addition of Foundation. Thus MLCP was created by the unification of four communist organisations.
A SHORT LOOK AT THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT BEFORE MLCP
The first communist organisation of Turkey, the TKP (Communist Party of Turkey), was founded in Baku in 1920 by Mustafa Suphi and his comrades. It received the support of the Communist International. With its theory and actions it carried out its work in a Marxist-Leninist line. During that period, in order to carry out a struggle against the imperialist occupation, M. Suphi and his friends entered the country; meanwhile, the Turkish state and Mustafa Kemal had also knowledge of this. But the sympathy towards and attractiveness of the October Revolution and practice of socialism scared the Turkish ruling classes as well. On January 29th, 1921 they drowned M. Suphi and his 14 comrades in the Black Sea. This was a big blow for the TKP. After M. Suphi, the TKP supported the bourgeois Kemalist power. When it came to the Kurdish problem, it followed a social chauvinistic line. From M. Kemal, they expected democratisation, even a socialist revolution. During those years, the TKP bore an opportunist characteristic. Maybe you are interested in reading a post about Juncker: “I will remain an enlightened patriot”.
After 1956, the TKP became the branch of modern revisionism in Turkey. It did not have a considerable political influence or action, which stood out in the struggle for socialism. Thus, the period between 1921 and 1971 was named the 50 years of pacifism and reformism of the TKP revisionism. In this sense, the 1971 revolutionary movement was not born out of a serious revolutionary heritage except of that of the TKP of 1921 under the leadership of M. Suphi.
With their revolutionary thinking and actions, THKO (Peoples Liberation Army of Turkey), THKP-C (Peoples Liberation Party-Front of Turkey) and TKP-ML (Communist Party of Turkey-Marxist Leninist), which were born in 1971 as revolutionary organizations, tore apart 50 years of revisionism, class co-operation and reformism.
In the 1960s, the deepening of social differentiation and class contradictions, the development of the Kurdish national consciousness, and the influence of the 1968 anti-fascist and anti-imperialist youth movements in the world paved the way in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan for the development of the working class, toiling masses and university students movements. During those years, the youths struggles against NATO and the 6th Fleet, the working class June 15th-16th resistance, TIP (Workers Party of Turkey) winning 15 seats in the parliament and similar phenomenon were making progressive, revolutionary and socialist thinking a material power among the masses.
On 12 March 1971, a military coup took place. This fascist coup was supported by (the) US imperialism. The collaborator Turkish bourgeoisie and generals headed towards pressure, bans and restrictions by saying that the partial rights and liberties provided by the 1961 constitution were too much for the social movement. The revolutionary organisations that we stated above did not give up, but were defeated fighting under an unequal balance of power. However, they left revolutionary values, traditions, a large heritage and achievements, which cannot be obliterated from the memory, for the Turkish and Northern Kurdistan revolution, the revolutionaries and communists. The revolutionary will and determination for struggle, revolutionary solidarity and comradeship-in-arms that have been carried on from them to this day continue to be the ferment of the revolutionary movement.
There is no doubt that the defeat of 71 and the situation of the International Communist Movement was also discussed in the ranks of the revolutionary movement of Turkey. The cadres of THKO and some of the cadres of THKP-C evaluated their own petit-bourgeois adventurous line and their attitude to the Kurdish national problem and to the period of Kemalist power in a critical manner. They decided to struggle against the social imperialist Soviet Union and modern revisionism and adopted the line of CPC (Communist Party of China) and PLA (Party of Labour of Albania). TKP-ML had already adopted this line from the beginning. In the second half of the 1970s, TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey) was formed instead of THKO. In the same period, TIKB (Union of Revolutionary Communists of Turkey), which had merged with TDKP, separated and continued its activities again as a group. In the second half of the 1980s, again another group called TDKIH separated from TDKP. Instead of THKP-C, THKP-C ML (which would later be named TKIH) was formed. TKP-ML was divided into two as TKP-ML and the TKP-ML Hareketi because of some differences in theoretical and political outlooks. In 1978, however, TKP-ML (YIO) separated from the TKP-ML Hareketi. We could say that, as well as some unavoidable separations and divisions in the ranks of the revolutionary movement, separations and divisions, which were not based on differences on principles, also occurred.
Until 1979, these organisations and groups stood apart from each other, but being influenced by the International Communist Movement and by each other, they recorded a parallel theoretical and political line of development. Perhaps their political lines and their organisational activities held some differences; however, their social practices showed that they were proceeding on the same ground.
A part of these groups declared themselves as the communist group after their struggle against Mao Zedong-Thoughts and after rejecting in 1979 the 3 World Theory, which was put forward by the Communist Party of China.
As it can be seen here, the revolutionary and communist movement came face to face with the fascist military coup attacks when it was in a scattered, fragmented and revolutionary spontaneous situation. Find out more about the Marxist Leninist theory.
1980 MILITARY FASCIST REGIME AND REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
In Turkey, the parties, organisations and groups, which were not able to organize themselves as organisations of revolutionary warfare, and whose organisational and political practice had been characterized with revolutionary spontaneity, received a serious defeat with heavy ideological, political and organisational consequences in the face of the 1980 military fascist coup. Ten thousands of revolutionary cadres and militants were put into prison, hundred of thousands of sympathisers of revolution were tortured and thousands of them were massacred. In the years of 1980-1987, almost an interruption was experienced in the revolutionary activities or a very weak activity was carried out.
During these years, when the revolutionary and communist movements had received a heavy defeat, the Kurdish national movement under the leadership of revolutionary nationalist PKK (Workers Party of Kurdistan) started a guerrilla war following the short period of preparation and organisation behind the front-line and began to grow in Northern Kurdistan.
There, MLCP appeared not as a result of spontaneity or by chance but totally as an inevitable fundamental need of the class struggle in this historical period.
The 1987 Netas strike in Istanbul, the wave of working class movement called Spring Action in 1989 and the general strike and resistance of the mine workers in Zonguldak were strikingly pointing out the lack of or weakness of a communist leadership.
In this period, the Kurdish national liberation struggle had reached the level of being a revolution and, in Turkey, the conditions of advancing the united revolutionary struggle with the task of creating a revolutionary workers movement were born. The task of international solidarity with the Kurdish national movement was imposing itself with all its urgency. There is no doubt that fulfilling these historical and political tasks could only be possible by giving an end to such fragmented, divided and ineffective situation of the communist movement. Read a MLKP statement about the Turkish president.
The search and the initiative for unification, which was born under these conditions, was at the same time meant to be a will-power and stance against the ideological and organizational destruction caused by the process of modern revisionist dissolution in the Soviet Union, Eastern and Central European countries in 1989-91, and the counter-revolutionary propagandas of the imperialist bourgeoisie on the theory and practice of socialism.
MLCP, therefore, represents also a desire to fulfil the historical and political tasks brought forward by the national liberation revolution. It was the need of uniting the revolutionary anger of the working class with the Kurdish people. MLCP is a product of will-power and passion of creating the second front-line, the front-line of the working class in the West. It is a response given to the working class and labourers demand and wish for unification.
STRUGGLE FOR UNIFICATION OF COMMUNISTS AND ITS RESULTS ARE A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE
The predecessor communist groups of the party developed a special method and plan of unity work. This experience of the unity struggle is an important experience both for the unity of communist groups and forces in each country and for the unification of international communist movement.
First of all, they began this work on the basis of an objective evaluation of the communist movement and then made the following fundamental definitions.
In Turkey, the communist movement is fragmented, divided, and ineffective and has a revolutionary spontaneous character (so is the situation of revolutionary movement). This situation points out the task of a political and organizational strategy and tactic and the centralization and organizational unity of communists by a revolutionary will-power.
The unity of communists is a matter of principles and an immediate political task. It concerns every communist individual and group on the level of principle and requires a struggle that cannot be postponed to the future.
Communist organisations should create the will and tendency for unity through a struggle organized from top to bottom with deliberately prepared plans of debate.
The starting point of the unity work should not be the differences, but the similarities. Each organisation must organise discussions within their own organisation and with other organisations. Communists of each group should take part in the discussions as individuals.
Discussion on unity must be carried out through a process of developing the common action and the political practice. The political surge and leaps are the guarantee of the unity of the communists. However, only the relations of trust and a process of getting closer, which are based on the real relations, can destroy the prejudgement and walls of grouping.
This special experience and method of unity work of MLCP is an achievement for the international communist movement.
WHAT MLCP FIGHTS FOR
MLCP plays a leading role in uniting, politicising and organising the working class and labouring masses in the struggle for freedom and socialism in order to put an end to capitalism, the wage slavery system, and shows high concern and responsibility in the struggle and all forms of problems of the oppressed as a whole.
By setting relations with the masses on various levels, MLCP takes every contradiction, whether big or small, among capitalist system and toiling masses as the subject of mass struggle, struggles and mobilises the masses for the struggle. Its style of relation with masses is different than that of the bourgeois regime parties, which humiliate them and count them as herd, and that of the petty-bourgeois revolutionary parties and groups looking down on the masses and set bureaucratic relations.
This style, which was formulated as transformation within the common, united activity in the Foundation Congress, involves establishing relations with the masses within the struggle, changing them within the struggle and also changing itself by learning from the masses within the struggle.
The aim of MLCP is to overthrow capitalism and establish socialism. It leads the struggle for the liberation of the proletariat, which means the liberation of mankind. It fights for a world without borders, exploitation, classes and state. As socialism is a system that has to be established by the working class and labouring masses themselves, its task is to lead their participation in the economic, political and social life.
Through its activities and actions, MLCP calls on the working class, labouring peasants, urban and rural poor, labouring women, youth, Kurdish people and intellectuals to fight for the anti-imperialist democratic revolution in order to go forward to the establishment of socialism, for the overthrow of the bourgeois power, which is the centre of national and social/class contradiction, and to establish the workers-labourers power.
MLCPs programme of anti-imperialist democratic revolution is based on the Soviet Union of Workers-Labourers Republics, the voluntary, free and equal unity of the peoples of Turkey and Northern Kurdistan.
MLCP defends and fights for the proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat in order to achieve the communist world, which is the liberation of proletariat and mankind. It believes that a sharp class struggle will also continue under the power of proletariat against the danger of restoration, that the dictatorship of proletariat is a real democracy, a socialist democracy, and it aims at it.
In the programme of MLCP, the following analyses were made on the situation of International Communist Movement:
14. Modern revisionists, who seized power in the Soviet Union in 1956, started the process of destruction of socialism and the restoration of capitalism. The counterrevolution, launched by Khrushchevites and perpetuated by Breshnev administration, transformed the Soviet Union into a social-imperialist country, where state monopoly capitalism reigned and the dictatorship of the proletariat was replaced by the dictatorship of the bureaucratic bourgeoisie.
16. Marxist-Leninist theory had taken into account the possibility of restoration in a socialist society under the conditions of imperialist encirclement and had pointed out to imperialist aggression, internal counter-revolution and a white betrayal within the party as probable causes and means of such a phenomenon. The counter-revolution in the Soviet Union was realized through bureaucratic degeneration and betrayal within the party.
17. Towards the end of the1980s, the revisionist camp, led by the Soviet Union, collapsed and this was followed by the disintegration of the Soviet Union itself. World bourgeoisie exploited this event to launch a frantic ideological offensive and mobilized all its apparatuses to disseminate propaganda to the effect that “socialism had died”. The restoration of capitalism in Albania, the defiant stronghold of socialism, was an integral part of all these developments, and that of imperialist activity, and took effect through liquidationist treachery
19. Today, the closing of the chasm between objective conditions of proletarian revolution and its subjective conditions, and formation and consolidation of communist vanguard detachments of working class in all countries are of vital importance. The fulfilment of this task requires a resolute and uncompromising ideological struggle against the ideological offensive of the bourgeoisie and new forms of modern revisionism as well as against Maoism, Trotskyism and all brands of revisionism. (Documents of Unity Congress, p47-48) Can the Euro Become More Important?
THE POLITICAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LINE OF MLCP
MLCP developed the main lines of its political struggle within its practice. Political tactics and slogans, revolutionary will-power, vanguard intervention, political reflex, the capacity of including and uniting the other forces, active political campaigns, extroverted political work and the use of all means and forms of struggle are some of these main lines.
With its level of preparation and the perspective to widen the uprising, MLCP was the outstanding force during the uprising in a labourer district of Istanbul, Gazi in 1995. The Fascist regime murdered the Foundation Congress delegate Hasan Ocak under police custody. Party started a campaign of struggle against disappearances under police custody for Hasan Ocak. The slogans of the process were determined as You took him alive, we want him back alive first, and then We want the list of those who let disappear; not that of those who disappeared, Dont be silent! If you keep silent you will be the next one. The Saturday Mothers activities started during the process of the campaign against disappearances, which drove the fascist regime into a corner. And this struggle was carried to an international level with the International Conference against Disappearances under Police Custody held in May 1996. The fight against disappearances in the world gained a new position through the International Committee against Disappearances. And due to the campaign, the disappearances under police custody in our country were repulsed for a period.
On the 14th of September 1995, Mert Fm radio was raided by the MLCP Red Commandos. For 40 minutes, workers and labourers were called on the ranks of the party, and the foundation leaflet of MLCP was read out.
In March 1996, on the anniversary of the Gazi uprising, MLCP Detachments raided at the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, kept under fire for a long time the state buildings and establishments there and destroyed them.
MLCP gathered its First Workers Conference at the end of 1995 in order to construct itself within the working class, to become a political power that feeds from the working class and to overcome the gap between the working class movement and the communist movement. The Workers Conference, which was gathered as an underground conference, made serious contributions on the improvement of the ideological, political and organisational understanding level of the cadres, the development of up-to-date criticism of capitalism, understanding of socialism and the comprehension of the relation between economical and political struggle of the working class. As a result, the Workers Conference functioned as an effective tool for cadre work.
The information of the working class and its mobilization for the struggle always is in the agenda of our party. While it informs the workers against the attacks, oppression and exploitation of the political regime, of the imperialist institutions like IMF and World Bank, the organization of the workers in trade unions and associations was important for the Party and led it in that direction. It made every effort to stand up for every spark growing in the working class against privatization, outsourcing, against the dismissals, the attacks against the right of organization of the workers to grow and spread it.
On the other hand, the Workers Assemblies that were organised in 2005 in the big cities of Turkey became important platforms where the workers raised and discussed their problems and searched for solutions on the free podiums.
Following the party activities corresponding with the increasing mass movement in 1996 and call for participation on May Day, about 15,000 labourers took part under the banner of MLCP at the May Day demonstration in 1996. In the beginning of the demonstration, the party lost the young communist worker, Hasan Albayrak, during a clash with the police. Militants of the party formed the most massive force at the clashes that started after the demonstration.
During the university students struggle in 1996, Communist Youth Organisation (KGO) pushed forward the youths struggle with a vanguard intervention. Young communists continued with a revolutionary will-power and insistence on the hunger strike, which was criticised as being an ordinary and moreover passive action and not supported by other youth groups. This activity, which aimed at overcoming the practice of only protesting against something, started to spread in all universities. Thanks to the hunger strikes, the anger and energy that was accumulated by the youth movement for many years erupted. On the 4th of February, about 5 thousand young people entered the forbidden area in Istanbul-Taksim Square, where it is forbidden to make any demonstrations. And on the 5th of February 3 thousand youngsters conquered the Ankara Kizilay Square. KGO pointed out the direction that youth should be following: To the Streets, Action and Liberation.
Rape and sexual assault under police custody is a type of attack that the fascist regime often uses against the political women. The book written by Asiye Zeybek on her experiences as one of the women who suffered from this attack was made a lever of struggle against the sexual assault and rape in police detention. In 2000, a conference was organised on the subject by the communist women. Following the political campaign that continued for 6 months, No to Sexual Abuse and Rape under Detention Conference was organised in June. The conference witnessed the growing honour, voice and courage of the Turkish and Kurdish women who have been the victim of torture and rape in detention and war, and whose sexual identities have been humiliated. Women convicted the torturer state by crying out that they had been raped. The conference, which drew a lot of attention to the problem and was attended by nearly a thousand women, showed that it has achieved its goal by repulsing the states torture by rape at high proportions.
In 2001, the new labour act imposing new slavery working conditions to the working class went through the parliament under the silence of the opposition and the unions. MLCP started a campaign under the name of The Flag March against these slavery laws. The blue coloured flag, which had No to Slavery Laws slogan written on it, was waved in the factories, workers and labourers districts from city to city. The light spread out by this enlightening activity gave results that opened horizons and brought out new energies within the working class struggle.
MLCP realized a revolutionary intervention in the elections of 3 November, 2002 and lately in the elections of 28 March, 2004. MLCP, which is organized on the basis of illegality and conspiracy, used the elections to meet with the workers and labourers and to carry the socialist alternative to them, without refusing the opportunities of legal and open activity and struggle.
There are strong and principal political lines of demarcation in between the MLCP and other reformist parties that make bourgeois parliament and bourgeois legality everything. And in (the) some way, it struggles against the attitude of the revolutionary movement of Turkey that do not participate in the elections and its understanding of the unchangeable boycotting tactic of the elections. The party, which considers the period of the elections as an opportunity of making propaganda of the revolution and socialism, have forced and overcome the bourgeois legality by legitimate ways. It organised election meetings through independent socialist candidates, went around with sound equipments and enlightened the people through mass agitation.
MLCP takes over the first place among the active political revolutionary organisations that conduct political activities in our geography against the imperialist attack and against occupation in the Middle East. It stood in the centre of the revolutionary movement during the great struggle against the NATO summit in Istanbul in June 2004. It stamped its mark on the barricade fights and street clashes on 28 June by its level of preparation, tactical determinations on the day and unlimited horizons. It continued with an active fight against the NATO summit for two months applying all forms and means of struggle. The NATO summit was not cancelled, but the NATO was driven into a corner in Istanbul.
In 2004, MLCP has also converted its 10th anniversary into an instrument to grow the political activities and to call on the workers, labourers, youth and women to join the ranks of the party.
In brief, we can say:
MLCP, which realized the unity of the communists with the strength of the revolutionary will-power, tests the role of the revolutionary will with its practice, and makes the revolutionary will and action a basic concept of its life in its later political and organisational work and solves the problems, which might appear. Surge and leap in political struggle, active working plans, style of vanguard intervention, political reflex, revolutionary power of criticism in organisational life, fight against revolutionary spontaneous and bureaucratic behaviours, self-confidence and political courage, cadres organising them selves in a revolutionary way and having an realistic way to see themselves, all are all the successes of the revolutionary will.
The fact that the predecessor communist organisations of MLCP dissolved themselves in order to found a strong party, which was a necessity for the class struggle, is, at the same time, a practical criticism of the understanding of idealizing an organisation and taking it as an objective itself. The organs and cadres of MLCP, who correctly understood the relation between the tool and objective through this criticism, began to use with a great success the different means and forms, tactics and slogans within the class fight.
MLCP continuously tries to go beyond the limits at political and organisational activities. It overcomes the tendency of maintaining the status quo and of the opportunist working style through various concepts, such as following the right way, enthusiastic march, running, surging and the rush to the masses.
MLCPs thoughts and activities on the regional anti-imperialist struggle coordination and conferences and its revolutionary and active intervention within the international mass movements constitute an important political activity.
In the understanding of MLCP, the actions of revolutionary group and mass violence against the counter-revolutionary violence are legitimate and active means of the political struggle.
MLCP increases its organisational level; it spreads and widens its organisation. It finds and creates new means of organising the masses or makes an active use of the present ones. It continues with its activities uninterruptedly. It makes progress through flexible and indirect organisations with new organisation centres and positions. Through its newspapers and various organizations, it conducts a deep and wide activity. It is in a process of deepening its organisational work by the division of labour and professionalization in its revolutionary work.
MLCP moves forward with the slogan from vanguard party to leader party in the line from the practice of organising and directing its own forces to the practice of organising and leading the workers, labourers and the masses.
MLCP MARCHES TOWARDS THE FUTURE ON THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MARTYRS
Turkey and Northern Kurdistan is a region where a tough class struggle takes place. The fight for freedom and socialism is conducted under the conditions of unequal relation of power. The collaborationist monopoly bourgeoisie and big landowners are continuing with and securing their power only for now by militarism and the power of war-machine. History of the colonial fascist Turkish regime is full of assault, torture and massacre against the political vanguards of the working class and our peoples, the revolutionary and communist cadres. Its principle policy is the counter-revolutionary violence and repression. Therefore ten thousands of distinguished sons and daughters of our people have lost their lives in the fight (in) between the revolutionary will-power and the counter-revolutionary will-power.
MLCP, which makes its own history, has also lost tens of its cadres and militants in the political struggle. Each of them turned fighting into a red banner in different areas of the revolutionary struggle. Here are four examples:
Huseyin Demircioglu, member of Central Committee of MLCP, martyred during the 1996 Death Fast held in the prisons. He was a teacher of the revolution; a symbol of the will-power being concentrated on the victory of the working class and the labourers. He stood by his own action against the attack of the State who knew that at first it was necessary to isolate the revolutionary vanguards in order to surrender the working class and labourers. By saying I must be the first he took his part in the death fast action in the prison where he was held, before determining the MLCP cadres who would take part in the death fast. He exposed his body to the hunger and passed into eternity in the struggle for workers and labourers. Biji Azadi (Kurdish; in English: Long Live Freedom!) were his last words.
Hasan Ocak, the Gazi commander, was killed while under police custody. He defeated the counter-revolutionary will-power under torture and became an irreconcilable legendary of resistance. Hasan Ocak is the call of the Gazi people for freedom and brotherhood against fascism. The labouring people of Turkey do know him from the Gazi barricades, street fights and the fight against disappearances under police custody. The torturers killed him in order to take revenge for the Gazi uprising. They wanted to put in fear his party, which led the uprising. But the massacre of Hasan under police custody has turned into a weapon that hit the murderers.
Suleymen Yeter was a communist leader of workers. He shouldered many tasks within the revolutionary struggle since his youth. He led many worker strikes and resistances. Suburbs and barricades had cherished him. Proletariat of Istanbul knew him very well. He attracted a lot of attention for the struggle for politicisation and organisation of the working class. He represented a call for rebellion against the colonialism. He fought at forefront against the political and national lynching attempts on the Kurds. He defended the party, revolution, socialism and the peoples brotherhood when he was under torture, and defeated the torturers at their home. He became the symbol of resistance under torture.
Tuncay Yildirim reached martyrdom in the process of the 2000-2002 death fast resistance. By his passing away he turned into a red flag of revolution on 21 March 2001. He lost his life on a Newroz Day, the Kurdish festival. He represented the fire of revival in terms of the class war. While the death fast was continuing in the prisons, the will-power of the death fast action outside the prisons was broken. Tuncay Yildirim, who was released temporarily from prison while being on death fast, gave a message of commitment to those with broken will-power by continuing with his resistance outside the prison. He took his part in the history as the symbol of upraising of the party. The fire of struggle that was rekindled by Tuncay Yildirim, lit the partys increasing and tempering development.
MLCP keeps alive its martyrs in the fight through the values and traditions they have created. The cadres and militants of the party continue to learn from each of our martyrs.
MLCP IS ONE STEP FORWARD IN INCLUDING AND UNITING THE FORCES
MLCP is a revolutionary force, will-power and action that arose from the unification of communist groups. Therefore, the capacity of including and uniting different forces is already in its soil.
MLCP defends and proclaims the revolutionary tradition and values of 1971. By making these traditions and values its own and by including and uniting different forces it tries to develop them further. The concept of Comradeship-in-Arms, which was an intervention against the estrangement and indifferent attitudes, started to grow among revolutionary parties and groups, started to exist as uniting ideological cement in the relations. The vanguard role, which MLCP has played in the creation of such situation, is a source of pride for it. Its efforts and initiatives on developing united struggle or unity of forces among revolutionary forces represents an important revolutionary progress.
The foundation of the Central Prison Coordination in 1996, the Youth Platforms and united platforms organised in labourer districts were the first steps of creating a united revolutionary leadership.
The Platform of United Revolutionary Forces that was formed in June 1998 represented an important experience for uniting the Kurdish national liberation struggle and the fight for revolution and socialism in Turkey.
MLCP played a unifying role in the foundation of No to War in Iraq Coordination, which was founded against the occupation of Iraq and of Unity against NATO and Bush.
MLCP KURDISTAN ORGANISATION
The Kurdistan Organization of MLCP is based on the reality of the Kurdish nation and is organized in the form of the Kurdistan section. It upholds its revolutionary work and activities in connection with the contradictions and specialities of Northern Kurdistan.
It continues in commitment with its struggle against the states traditional denial and annihilation policy on Northern Kurdistan, which is under the yoke of colonialist fascist Turkish regime. For it is aware that the Kurdish question is the main problem feeding reaction and fascism in Turkey; the political freedom cannot be achieved without the freedom of Kurdish people; the freedom of the Kurdish nation represents one of the bases of the anti-imperialist democratic revolution.
MLCP Foundation Congress, which emphasized that the national democratic demands of the Kurdish nation are just and legitimate, has announced that the solution of other major problems will be possible by recognition of self-determination right of the Kurdish nation, that is to say, the right of establishing its own state.
MLCP supports and fights for the Kurdish national freedom, the united Soviet Federation of the Turkish and Kurdish labourers. It positions itself as a component and active supporter of the Kurdish peoples national liberation struggle.
MLCP struggles against the chauvinism among the ranks of the Turkish workers and labourers, as well as against social chauvinism among the progressive and revolutionary organisations. It criticizes the revolutionary parties with not understanding the Kurdish revolution considering the level of its development in the first half of the 1990s.
MLCP criticizes the Imrali-defence of Abdullah Ocalan after 1999 (Imrali is an island in the Marmara Sea where the president of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan was sentenced and is kept in prison) and states that the national revolutionary PKK has turned into a national reformist party through the decision of the 7th Congress. It criticizes the ideological surrendering, politically broken will and the liquidation in the national movement from the point of view of ideology and politics. It announced that PKK has turned into a national reformist party. However, at the same time, it tries to fulfil its task to struggle for the Kurdish peoples national and democratic demands based on the independent or united actions. Besides the national question, it also brings forward the class problems considering the defeat of the Kurdish revolution and the social structure of Kurdistan.
By its socialist point of view, MLCP Kurdistan Organisation is in the process of political and organisational development in Northern Kurdistan.
MLCPS UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONALISM
MLCP is tied to the principle of proletarian internationalism. It is the branch of the World communist movement in our country. It believes that class struggle is an international struggle in essence; that the increasing contradictions of imperialism develop further the material social conditions of the regional revolutions and world revolution today, that is to say, they bring out new opportunities and dynamics.
MLCP organises its international work and relations upon two axis.
The first one is the problems of communist parties and movements:
In its 3rd Congress, MLCP said that today, the international communist movement is experiencing an ideological and organisational crisis. It, therefore, organises its work and practice in this sphere with the aim and perspective to overcome the problem via an active intervention and to create a new International. It believes in the necessity of establishing and developing a new way of international relations among the communist and revolutionary parties and organisations.
It conducts bilateral relations with communist parties and organisations and with those, which are in a transition process; takes part in the groups formed by other parties and organisations on the international and regional levels.
The new way of international relations must contain the following: 1) The relations among the parties must be organized on the basis of equality, transparency, independency and comradely criticism and self-criticism, 2) International relations must not be treated in an abstract and general manner, but in a concrete and active manner and in inseparable connection with political practice, 3) Reciprocal evaluations of each other and relations of trust among the parties must be established upon the real relations, 4) Factors that overshadow the ideological struggle and nationalist tendencies must be avoided.
The second is the problems of the anti-imperialist struggle:
The problems of international and regional anti-imperialist struggle are among the tasks and concerns of MLCP. It takes part within the actions against the imperialist globalisation, Social Forums and platforms against the imperialist war. It aims to create an anti-imperialist revolutionary centre and to meet with the radical elements of the movement.
It acts with the perspective of forming regional unions or coordinations of anti-imperialist struggle. For this reason: a) Its grounds are strong and dynamics, opportunities and conditions are really developed, b) It is possible to come together on the grounds of a common platform with different progressive, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist parties and groups, c) Regional anti-imperialist struggle coordination will also be an important contribution to increase the local and international anti-imperialist struggle. And d) it will serve the strengthening and development of the relations among revolutionary and communist parties and groups.
LABOURING WOMENS MOVEMENT KNOWS MLCP WELL
Through its democratic and communist women activities, MLCP takes side with and participates in the action of working women, home worker women, university and college women and the Kurdish women whose language and identity is banned. It is the staff of womens fight for freedom among the revolutionary movement of Turkey. It considers women as the subject of revolution and life. It defends, takes forward and tries to bring to open the labour, conscience and talent of women that have been counted as not existing in the class society. It is aware of that the social liberation can only come with the freedom of women and, therefore, would lead the struggle of women for freedom.
MLCP became the main labourer of democratic women organisation and work, which is the product of Labouring Womens Assembly organised by its predecessor organisations. It continued with the work through organising local and central conferences of the womens organization. It leads the celebration of 8 March, the International Working Womens Day, in a revolutionary line on the streets and under the red banners in our geography. It worked for making labourer women, who are the relatives of revolutionary prisoners or disappeared people, the subject of the struggle by organising a Mothers Conference. It organised the courage and solidarity by the Conference against Rape and Sexual Abuse in Detention. It upholds the struggle against the so called honour killings and reactionary repression. It has turned the work among the young women into an important element of the work among women.
MLCP fights for socialism, the system where women will be totally equal with men. For socialism abolishes the private property, it would also prepare the conditions for liberation of women from the house slavery and the social slavery.
MLCP struggles to organise the way of relations among women and men, which would be realized under socialist society, starting from today. It creates the prototypes of futures free women and men in its ranks. And Sengul Boran, a martyr of MLCP, is one of these symbols of militant, warrior, free and new women.
THE STAR OF MLCP, COMMUNIST YOUTH ORGANISATION (KGO)
MLCP calls on the youth to fight for a future of freedom and a society with justice and equality. In this fight, KGO fights with its revolutionary will and action in the frontline of the youth movement. It mobilizes the objection and anger of the youth for the struggle for a new, equal and free world.
KGO was founded in 1994. It is a youth organisation that is ideologically dependent on the party, but organisationally independent. It leads the youth movement both in its academic struggle and in its struggle for freedom. As one of the basic leading forces of the youth movement, it has realized important surges and initiatives.
In 1994, following an enthusiastic and influential campaign, it organised the Democratic College Conference attended by hundreds of college students. On 4-5 February 1996, it crowned its hunger strike action, which was started by occupation of Yildiz Technical University in 1995, with mass demonstrations attended by thousands of young people against the capitalisms enrolment fees.
On the 18th of May 2001, KGO led the action, which gathered thousands of youth, who broke the police barricade in Ankara-Kizilay, against YOKs (Higher Education Board) new draft of law that could put universities under the yoke of the capital. It took part in the campaign for teaching Kurdish as a subject in the schools. It forwarded the struggle for the freedom of young women by organizing the Young Womens Conference.
KGO has organised 3 Congresses in its history and elected its own leadership. It has experienced the active examples of practicing socialist democracy. It continues to discover the revolutionary talent and power of the youth. It has grown brave warriors among its ranks, such as Ozgur, Sengul, Erkut and Aynur.
KGOs call on the youth is: Student youth in colleges and universities! Worker and unemployed youth and young women! Join the ranks of KGO in order to create our own future and to establish an equal, free and just society of socialism through the struggle of the party!
THE CULTURE-ART FRONT OF THE PARTY STRUGGLE
MLCP created a revolutionary and attractive alternative in the culture and art front. It walks in the line of bringing together art and culture with streets, peoples and life. Against the imprisonment of art in the elite residences of city centers, it carries art into the suburbs, the provincial cities and mountain villages.
By going beyond the general approach of the revolutionary movement to art, it makes its culture organization a strong centre of production.
With its activities and panel discussions in the realm of culture and art, it educates tens of thousands of people. It creates works of political cinema through short films. It becomes attractive through its music and theatre workshops.
MLCP organizes the culture and art front as a channel to achieve the contribution of intellectuals to the agendas of political struggle.
The slogan, Art for society, science for humanity and politics for freedom, states its duty and responsibilities.
MLCP continues to grow the fronts of struggle, of which the most important ones were mentioned and to enrich the means and methods of struggle for the organization of the working class and the labourers. MLCP, which is in the transition from the vanguard party to the leading party, continues determinedly its revolutionary advance under the fire of the enemy.
Marxist Leninist Communist Party Turkey / Northern Kurdistan © 2006
