As opposition continues to grow against the NATO Summit to be held in Ankara on 7–8 July, hundreds of people gathered in İstanbul at the call of the Communist Party of Turkey. Alongside TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan, Giorgos Marinos, Member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), also attended the event. Artists contributed to the gathering with poetry and songs.
Giorgos Marinos: We condemn the ban on demonstrations
At the event, where participants chanted slogans including “NATO Out, This Country Is Ours,” “These People Will Never Bow down to You,” and “Take Over the Bases, NATO Out,” Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), delivered a speech.
Marinos expressed KKE’s support for TKP’s struggle and the initiatives organized against the NATO Summit, while condemning the Turkish authorities’ decision to ban demonstrations in Ankara and all forms of repression. He also announced that KKE would militantly take part in TKP’s activities to jointly denounce NATO, the bourgeois classes and their governments for dragging peoples into imperialist wars and aggressive plans. Emphasizing that the struggle against NATO is a common struggle of the TKP and the KKE, Marinos said:
“We extend our warmest thanks to the comrades of the TKP and, on behalf of the KKE, convey our comradely greetings to this event. We support the TKP’s struggle against the NATO Summit. We condemn the Turkish government’s ban on all demonstrations in Ankara. Since its foundation, NATO has been an anti-communist force defending capitalism. After the counter-revolution, NATO continued to expand its borders. We closely follow the contradictions between the EU and the US and take a clear position. Whatever form it takes, NATO will continue to be a danger to the peoples. Turkey’s and Greece’s accession to NATO in 1952 served the interests of the bourgeoisie.
Today, the KKE is at the forefront of the struggle against our country’s participation in NATO. It has taken its place in the demonstrations in Greece against the US attacks on Iran. The decisive force is the struggle waged by peoples under the leadership of the communists. We are intensifying our efforts to strengthen the common struggle of our peoples. Long live proletarian internationalism! Long live the common struggle of the TKP and the KKE!”
“They want to turn Ankara into a prison”
Following Marinos, TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan took the floor.
Okuyan opened his speech by saying, “We have gathered here to protest NATO, which we describe as the most dangerous organization in the world. The determination in this hall is an invincible determination. Sooner or later, we will win.” Pointing to the losses Turkey has suffered as a result of its NATO membership since 1952, Okuyan continued:
“We have to admit that in 1952 the imperialists and Turkey’s exploiting classes achieved a success against the dignity of this country and against its working people: they enrolled our country in this organization. We lost there. In the years that followed, we kept losing. As if we did not already have enough troubles, NATO produced murders, it produced coups. In 2004, they held the NATO Summit in Istanbul. Back then we said, ‘Istanbul is closing its doors to NATO,’ but we could not close them. Years have passed, and now this NATO Summit is being held in the capital of this country.
“Turkey must exit NATO”
Okuyan also commented on the government’s stance toward NATO, arguing that while some circles present themselves as anti-imperialist, they in fact follow a pro-NATO line. Stressing that Turkey must leave NATO, Okuyan said:
“There are those who openly support NATO. There is a section that does not hide its collaborationism. We like them—they do not lie. But if there is one thing that has caused us the greatest harm, it is the hypocrites. When it suits them, they are patriotic, they are anti-imperialist, but at their core they are pro-NATO, just like the current government. They make bold statements when they meet with Chinese officials and the Russians officials. These are the most dangerous supporters of NATO. Collaborators, exploiters, NATO supporters, reactionaries—that is their character. You cannot expect anything else from people of that character.
They say NATO is a very cruel organization, but if we leave, Greece will remain in NATO and attack Turkey. They tell the Greek people the same kind of lies. We have to get rid of them. Turkey must leave NATO.”
“We do not want foreigntroops in a country built through the struggle of the people of Anatolia”
Towards the end of his speech, Okuyan referred to the preparations for the summit in Ankara and the security measures being taken, saying that they would not allow the government to let the summit pass “quietly.”
Stressing that opposition to NATO must go hand in hand with opposition to reactionary forces, religious sects and the rule of capital Okuyan continued:
“A summit will be held in Ankara on 7 July. Inthe run-up to this summit, the government has openly accepted presenting itself as pro-NATO. The AKP government has a project for Turkey. This project is pro-market, hostile to secularism, hostile to the Republic. This project is expansionist. Expansionism is contrary to the founding principles of the Republic. The Republic of Turkey was not founded in 1923 on an expansionist perspective. The AKP government, on the other hand, has an expansionist mindset. Empires do not remain confined within their borders; they expand. They want to expand, but the outfit is too tight. They are looking for ways to loosen it.
There can be no half-hearted opposition to NATO. If we are against imperialism, if we are against reactionary forces, if we are against religious sects and the rule of capital, then we must also oppose this system’s strategy of expansion.
We do not want foreign troops in a country built through the heroic struggle of the people of Anatolia. When we hold the political power, every one of them will be driven out.”
“We have a ‘bad’ habit: We do not bow down!
Continuing his speech, Okuyan said:
“The NATO Summit is a summit preparing Turkey for new adventures. No war is just. Only a war against occupiers is just and legitimate. Plans have been made to draw Turkey into the war in Ukraine in which NATO is involved. New NATO brigades are being established. Turkey is part of all of them. Europe is rearming like crazy. If countries’ economies are becoming militarized, it means war is at the doorstep. We are facing a real threat.
Our government has decided to clear Ankara of its own people so that nothing disturbs the NATO powers. They say NATO is a defensive organization. For NATO’s sake, they have decided to defend Ankara from its own people. They have started arresting people in early morning raids. We were going to hold a rally on 5 July, so they moved the starting date of the ban to an earlier date. The same mentality that had the brothels painted for the visit of American dignitaries years ago is now making a disgrace of Ankara. We said we would not accept this disgrace. They keep imposing bans. They have the judiciary, administrative measures, even NATO’s technical capabilities at their disposal. But we, too, have a ‘bad’ habit: we do not bow down.”
“We will not allow this country to quietly host a NATO Summit”
Okuyan concluded his speech by saying:
“We cannot match the weapons and financial resources of the NATO powers. But neither do they have any chance of matching our determination and our will. We said it from the very beginning: we will not allow this country to quietly host a NATO Summit.
Since they have turned the banning of rallies into a weapon, we will turn every corner of this country into a field of struggle. Whatever measures they take, no one can make this people bow down.”
The event concluded with slogans following Okuyan’s speech.
