World public opinion is still somewhat influenced by the long-held belief that Europe is the centre of democracy and prosperity. But the historical truth about European democracy and prosperity tends to be obscured: The source of the political and social gains on the continent was the struggle of the deep-rooted and powerful working class movement throughout Europe. With the decline of this movement in the 1990s, politics was restructured, working people were pushed out of politics and working class rights were curtailed. Today, the contradictions within the imperialist system and the deepening crisis of capitalism are bringing wider attacks on workers’ rights onto the agenda in Europe as elsewhere. These attacks are accompanied by the rise of fascist movements throughout Europe. The desperation spreading among workers opens the door to right-wing radicalism. By targeting immigrant workers, fascist policies not only divide the class, but also cause them to direct their anger at their immigrant brothers and sisters rather than focusing on their real enemy, the capitalist class. On the other hand, reformist movements in the European showcase of “left politics” are doing their best to channel the working class into false solutions within the system and to overshadow class-based politics with liberal identity politics.
The European Union, with all its mechanisms, especially the European Commission, has become the dominant actor of the organised capital attack against the working class for decades. Since 1992, the European Union, with its increasingly repressive policy of “macroeconomic surveillance” of the public finances of the member countries, has made the workers impoverished and vulnerable to exploitation. It is well known that many acquired rights such as collective bargaining, pensions, stable working hours, unemployment insurance, etc. are under attack by the EU bureaucracy itself. While the governments turn the labour market into a rose garden without thorns for the capitalist class, EU membership becomes their main excuse. The European Union continues to threaten the working class in both member and non-member countries as an imperialist centre that functions to protect the interests of European capital.
Since the crisis of 2008, millions of unorganised workers, under the influence of worsening living conditions, have carried out many big and small demonstrations in many countries, and from time to time mass resistances and strikes. In the face of the growing mobility of the working class, the forces of capital are resorting to more state violence on the one hand and intensifying their attack on the minds of the workers through fascist movements by provoking xenophobia or pseudo-left alternatives on the other. Whatever measures they take, the deepening crisis, the complicated contradictions and the threat of war due to the effects of imperialist competition further reveal the radicalisation potential of the working class. A significant shortcoming throughout Europe is the limited influence of the communists on the working masses. Communists have an opportunity and a duty to give a political aspect to workers’ actions and to link them to the option of socialism.
In Turkey, since the 1990s, the possibility of being part of the European Union has been emphasised as the dominant project that would put the country on the right track. For years, the workers have been told that if Turkey joins the EU, it will advance in terms of democracy and human rights; the level of welfare will increase and various social rights will be acquired. Turkish liberal intellectuals and some left-wing political groups, which are intertwined with the European left, dared to legitimise this fairy tale with the slogan “Europe of labour”. While the workers were distracted by this story, many liberal reforms were implemented with the start of full membership negotiations in 2005 on the grounds of “alignment with the EU acquis”. In recent years, the hope of full membership has faded. Moreover, the worsening living conditions in the European countries, the increasing state violence against the workers, the xenophobia, the warmongering of the central EU countries and the EU bureaucracy have to some extent undermined the former image of the EU in the eyes of the Turkish workers. Nevertheless, against the endless liberal theses that the European Union is the only salvation for Turkey, we still have the duty to explain the fact that the EU is an imperialist and anti-worker political organisation of the European capitalist classes. Against the illusion that the EU is our safe haven, we have to strengthen the thesis that socialist Turkey can stand on its own feet, away from the influence of all imperialist centres.
Erdogan suffered a blow in the recent local elections in Turkey. The empowering leadership of the re-elected mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, in the opposition is causing a significant part of the educated young population to see European “civilisation” as a hope against the political climate created by the AKP, which identifies with Erdogan and his corrupt and ignorant bureaucrats. There are a few points to consider here: Although the old prestige of the EU has disappeared in Turkey, there is a sense of alienation from the problems of European workers. Against this, it is our duty to raise awareness about the struggles of the workers in the central countries of Europe. Moreover, we have to show that the operations of European monopolies in the Turkish economy is one of the most important reasons for the great impoverishment in Turkey, parallel to the loss of rights of the European working classes. The struggle for survival of the educated and uneducated workers who migrated from Turkey in the past and who have migrated recently to Europe must be linked with the struggles of the European workers. On the other hand, the Turkish big capital, which has been supporting the AKP in Turkey for years, has started to invest in different countries, especially in Eastern Europe. We need more data on how these capital groups become interlocutors of the working class there and to identify and follow the fault lines.
TKP advocates nationalisation against the invasion of foreign capital in the country and the cancellation of all agreements with the imperialist countries and organisations. And we believe that the main channel for strengthening the socialist option in Turkey is the strengthening of TKP’s relations with the working class. The workers should trust TKP and find it at their side in their reactions against the increasing unemployment, poverty and high cost of living and in their actions against the injustices they suffer in the workplaces. This is only possible by developing very concrete relations within the working class. The precarious and flexible labour regime, which has become dominant in all European countries, is one of the biggest challenges for the rights and struggle of the working class in Turkey. TKP acts with the need to develop a practical and flexible style in accordance with the changing structure of the workplace and working conditions.
There are different organising initiatives within the Turkish working class, which is already largely unorganised. Large and small initiatives reflect the search for organisation in areas where traditional trade union organisation does not exist or where existing unions are ineffective. The Communication, Solidarity and Struggle Network “Breath down the bosses’ neck” (hereafter we will refer to as PE, its abbreviation in Turkish) launched by TKP opens the way for workers who come together around common problems in a workplace, an area of work or a sector to fight together by forming a coordination or committee without being subject to legal restrictions. We can give different examples. Especially in the summer 2022 and winter 2023, the PE organisation among the motor couriers has left important experiences. In this growing sector, where the circulation is very high, there is an intensive exploitation of labour. Although the big cargo companies employed the motor couriers as self-employed workers, it was remarkable that the PEs pioneered the class reflex against the loss of rights. In the central districts of Ankara in the summer of 2023, the resistance of the workers against the cooperation of the bosses with the trade union was achieved through PE; and as we can see in the ongoing “Lezita” strike (chicken meat producer company), the workers, organised against all kinds of attacks of the boss, the communists were with them from the beginning of the strike through PE organisation and did their best to bring the strike to the agenda.
In conclusion, each of our parties has the responsibility to carry out the most effective intervention to organise the working class according to a revolutionary strategy, taking into account the conditions in its own country. On the other hand, the revival of communism in the central countries of the imperialist system and its becoming an option again is essential for the total transformation of the communist movement in Europe and in the world. We believe that we, as parties struggling in Europe, have to develop a common strategy towards these centres.