(Yürüyüş No.79, August 12, 2018)
Fascism is “legally” also finishing off the Democratic Mass Organisations, it is demanding total surrender
NOT RESISTING MEANS TO BE DESTROYED!
Workers’ and Public Workers’ Trade Unions
Professional Chambers
Alevi Associations and all Democratic Mass Organisations;
All Political Movements, Legal Left Parties;
80-Year-Old Kezban Ana Is Resisting!
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Yüksel Resisters Have Been Resisting for 640 Days!
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
An Architect in Düzce, A Worker In Ankara Are Resisting!
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
The People’s Front Is Resisting In Every Area And Calls Others To Resist!
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Every attack by imperialism and fascism on the people and the revolutionary, progressive and democratic organisations of the people is bound to turn into a war for “existence”. Since the start of the 1990s, imperialism has had the aim with its ideological and military attacks of completely destroying revolution and socialism.
For this reason every attack means revolutionary, progressive, democratic and patriotic forces must make a definite preference known.
The attacks at the start of the 1990s were like that. The attacks in the 2000s, “Either change your beliefs or perish” were like that. AKP fascism’s attacks have the same character, in which they use imprisonment, KHKs and the presidential system in the framework of their legal alterations.
When imperialists and fascism attack revolutionaries, reformism generally thinks, “This is an attack brought about by the mistakes of revolutionaries, their extremism, defence of violence and weapons and militancy.”
They somehow do not want to see that fascism is just taking its time and after the revolutionaries it will certainly be their turn. They are not aware of fascism’s democracy game, and they think their own status quo will not be changed.
Practice has proved the contrary to be true many times but reformism draws no lessons from history.
You do not have to look at very old examples from history: there is the Yüksel Resistance filling almost two years.
641 days, nearly every day there was an attack.
What were Yüksel resisters resisting for?
For hundreds of thousands of public workers, architects, engineers and doctors fired under AKP fascism’s emergency KHK decrees to get their jobs back.
Did KESK, DİSK, TMMOB and the TTB think this demand unnecessary? Did they think it unnecessary to support the demand?
Let us leave to one side supporting the demand, even if it was not their own demand, was it not necessary to support a democratic action and show solidarity in the face of such wild, continual and systematic fascist attacks?
Certainly it was necessary, but they did not do it.
Because this is what they were thinking:
Look, KESK also carries out actions but the state does not attack KESK actions. The state attacks the Yüksel ones because they are militant and “extremist” and they are an “organisation”.
Was this true?
No it was not!
KESK actions were also attacked by the state whenever they took a step outside of the line drawn by the state and the police.
The state also does not need a reason to attack. The difference is this: reformism, whether legal parties or trade unions, surrenders immediately if attacked. They do not carry out another action. They surrender. So they do not “escalate”.
Intelligent leftism is this kind of leftism. In their book there is no resisting, no paying a price. Resisting, putting up barricades, being jailed, paying a price is STUPIDITY to them.
Because they look at the struggle in this way, FOR DECADES they have not conducted even one resistance that ended in victory.
Because this is how they see things, they are MELTING AWAY day by day.
Yes, they are so “intelligent” that in the prisons, other than revolutionaries, there is not a single DİSK, KESK, TMMOB, TTB, ODP or EMEP member. But who does their “intelligence” benefit?
The workers? The peoples of Turkey? Fascism? Whom? HOW IS FASCISM ELIMINATING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND THE DEMOCRATIC STRUGGLE?
Let us recall once more fascism’s No.5 Republican Presidential Office Decree.
This decree connects the State Control Council (DDK) to the Presidential Office.
The DDK was authorised to audit all institutions outside the judicial bodies and to open administrative investigations into them.
With this amendment, the DDK can supervise DİSK, KESK, The Bar Association of Turkey, the Union of Chambers of Turkey and the Stock Exchanges, The Turkish Doctors’ Union, The Union of Agricultural Chambers of Turkey, TMMOB, The Chamber of Chemists, all foundations established in Turkey and all district and town chambers of commerce and open ENQUIRIES into them.
The DDK can demand every type of information and document from these institutions, including ther membership lists.
The DDK can remove any grade of director in these institutions. Again according to Decree No.5, the President can issue any kind of decision about“social and economic rights” in relation to family, education and learning, land ownership, agriculture and livestock, nationalisation, transferring to the state and privatisation, work and trade union rights, the right to strike and wages, health services, youth and sport, the right to social security, history-culture and natural entities.
Let us read these paragraphs again; can a democratic struggle be waged in a country with such paragraphs? Can democratic institutions be given life?
We answer this question with a “CONDITIONAL YES”.
Yes, despite these laws, a democratic struggle is possible. Despite these ordnances, there can be democratic institutions. But under what CONDITIONS?
Democratic Struggle Is Revolutionary Struggle!
The democratic struggle is on the one hand the struggle for rights and freedoms today, on the other, it is the activity of drawing all classes and layers whose interests are served by revolution into education and consciousness.
This is why we say the class struggle is a school.
One of the most fundamental mistakes in dealing with the democratic struggle in our country is the view that the democratic struggle is always seen as requiring the most backward line. Democratic struggle is not a struggle in “Democratese”. Democratic struggle is a fight that must also be sustained by the forms of revolutionary action.
An organisation that limits itself to the democratic field and democratic struggle remains within the limits imposd by the system.
Organisations like KESK, DİSK, TMMOB, TTB, PSAKD are legal organisations established according to system laws. But this does not mean they have to bow to the system and legality.
Legality is different, subjection to the system is different.
To be subject or not subject to the system is the result of a political preference. DİSK at the time it was founded engaged in class and mass trade unionism, it had progressive conceptions. Its politics went outside the system. But DİSK, after the September 12 junta terror, began to favour “modern trade unionism”, and surrendered to fascism and imperialism.
In conditions in which the system has banned the establishement of trade unions for public workers, the concept of legitimate, active trade unionism is a revolutionary and progreessive concept.
But starting from system laws and seeking refuge in “individualism”is essentially reactionary.
Reaction has rached the point that they close doors on their own workers and they will become even more reactionary as they start to echo the oligarchy in saying that the Yüksel resisters are an “organisation”!
Democratic Struggle Is Not An Arena For Conciliation,
It Is A School Of Class Struggle
Democratic struggle is a school of class struggle.
Why?
We are openly confronting the enemy. The enemy implements all tactics and manoeuvres.
On the one hand the democratic struggle goes on while evaluating all legal possibilities. But to confine it to legality is to imprison ourselves within the limits set by fascism.
If there is no revolutionary conception to the democratic struggle and its institutions, it serves as a shop window of fascism. Fascism can say, look, there is freedom to organise in our country, there are hundreds of associations and chambers.
The first condition of the democratic struggle is not to accept being a display window for fascism. If necessary, we will of course abandon legal institutions and will know how to be organised only on the basis of legitimacy.
If it is not taken care of and we remain subject to the current limits, a democratic struggle is already over once fascism says “it is forbidden!”.
For this reason, it is basic, just and legitimate for thhe revolutionary struggle to benefit from any legal possibilities. Labourers and the peoples see the true face of fascism in the school of justice and legitimacy.
The Essence Of Democratic Struggle Is Not To Give In!
Once It Gives In, Its Democratic Essence Is Gone!
In democratic actions, the police always confront us every time, the opposition, with obstacles and conditions. For example, whether to march on the road or on the pavement. Or on the road they will not allow you to create a lane strip.
The issue is not about the road or the pavement. The issue is that the other side is made to accept your will. This is the essence of the enemy’s politics. It’s okay at another time to carry out an action but you cannot open your banner.
Now there’s more to the action than the banner action itself. It has become a battle of wills, and the class struggle is embodied there. In that case, we will give up the march but not the the banner. Reformism is “big politics” and they make a lot of noise about it, they say it is the action that is essential but in fact they talk of action but bow to pressure. In fact, the democratic struggle is over if that happens.
In the Bakırköy action of the public workers, when the police said, “The press release is allowed, but the sitdown action is not allowed”, it clearly revealed the logic of counter-revolution towards the democratic struggle.
At another action it might be“there is permission for a sitdown action but we cannot hold a march”.
For example, you cannot hold an action in front of the Taksim monument, but you can go up to ten steps from the monument. What is the difference? They want your will to be under their control. This sometimes shows in names: we said “relatives of the missing”the state prefers to call them“Saturday mothers”; reformism also preferred to call them Saturday mothers. Because this is a tacit policy of recognising fascism.
All these are politics of making an action reformist, keping it within obvious limits, carrying out actions without willpower. The police nearly always get a result every time from the reformists. And this is the basic difference between the outlook of our democratic struggle and the outlook of the reformists and opportunists.
Yüksel, Düzce, Ankara, Free Prisoners Are Resisting, The People’s Front Is Resisting, KESK, DİSK, TMMOB, TTB – What Will You Do?
In the face of the OHAL (state of emergency), announced after the coup attempt of July 15, 2016 democratic institutions, reformist, opportunist legal parties and organisations revealed they were unable to put up resistance to it. On the contrary, “nothing can be done in OHAL conditions”.
Since the Presidential decree they have done nothing to confront that attack. They issued a few “written press releases”, but resistance policy and determination does not appear. Still doing what was done after September 12, 1980, saying we have to “unite”. There is nothing else in what they repeat. Resistance, determination and will – there is none.
We say to all democratic association members and leaders; the leaders of your associations and reformist parties are clueless, irresponsible and prone to surrender.
Cluelessness means, “Being unaware of events and what is going on around you, helplessness”.
Irresponsibility means, when it comes to duties and responsibilities “showing no responsibility”.
Why surrender? It means “Surrendering, giving in, submitting, turning yourself completely over to another’s hands.”
And whose hands? IMPERIALISM AND FASCISM’S HANDS.
ALL WORKERS, THE PEOPLES OF TURKEY, PROGRESSIVES, REVOLUTIONARIES, PATRIOTS AND DEMOCRATS!
Do not be partners to this surrender. Do not allow it.
When we look at history and at devlopments today we see: this cluelessness and surrender will end in liquidation and betrayal.
Let us prevent this. The way to do so is with resistance through revolutionary politics.
80-Year Old Mother Kezban Resists, PSAKD, ABF, AABF And All Alevi Foundations – What Will You Do?
The aggression of the AKP fascists on July 19 showed itself in Küçükarmutlu Cemevi (Alevi place of worship). The cemevi was raided. Revolutionaries in the cemevi were detained and imprisoned. The chairman of the Cemevi was arrested.
They wrote low insults on the walls of the cemevi and covered them in soot.
Alevi organisations in our country must know very well that – to remain silent about this attack means come, put your bloody combat boots all over our cemevi.
Come, put soot on the walls where we hang pictures of Hüseyin, Ali, Pir Sultan, and Hacı Bektaş.
The Alevi institutions, the essence of Alevism is resistance. Alevi organisations cannot keep silent in the face of an attack by fascism. The only way is to resist.
The only way, throughout the country there are 63 branches of Pir Sultan associations and Kezban Ana resists in every one.
What needed to be done to resist the open fascism of 1980 has been started by 80-year-old Kezban Bektaş.
All democratic institutions should know that the same type of attack may be directed at TMMOB or KESK branches tomorrow. Your branch chairs can also end up in the F-Types. You may think that you are not “from the same neighbourhood” with the arrested revolutionaries, that the F-Type Prisons were not “made for you”.
To see your mistake, it is enough to look at the history of Nazism and see who is in our prisons now.
Either surrender completely or become familiar with the prisons. If you surrender, those big buildings and glorious titles may perhaps remain to you:
But politically you will be no different from corpses. Your work has no connection to democracy or struggle. If the chairs, management boards of twenty-four chambers get together, the leadership of all KESK branchs assemble, they still can’t do what one Nuriye does; THIS IS THE REALITY OF THE STRUGGLE.
In that case this is what needs to be done: starting with all the heads of KESK, DİSK, TMMOB, TTB… each one must become a Nuriye. This is the way to break through AKP fascism’s encirclement.
We can say this theoretically and politically but in essence, the solution is to resist. To be Nuriye, Kezban Ana.
The solution is to make many more Yüksels.
Reformist Politics Have Brought You To Your End,Your Only Chance Is Practising Revolutionary Politics
We must have the aim of making the democratic struggle create a REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE’S OPPOSITION. If we do not, never mind trade unionism for wages and the struggle for essential rights; this means that the economic-democratic struggle is abstracted from its democratic content and drowned in economism. Pro-Americanism in this country is embodied in Türk-İş as unionism that places itself above classes. However, this understanding has not been limited to Türk-İş for many years, and it has been like that for DİSK, KESK, TMMOB, all of them; In other words, these institutions have been Turk-İş-ified. The people running reformist parties like EMEP, ÖDP and BDP are no different.
Reformism has entered into an alliance against revolutionaries, has adopted the policy of eliminating revolutionaries from democratic institutions, with whatever policies imperialism has proposed; civil society, intelligent leftism, environmentalism, international standards, dialogue, identity politics… In short, what the revolutionaries do not do, reformism has it.
These are the ones who dissolved democratic institutions and ended the democratic struggle.
We have reached a point where there is clearly A PARTING OF THE WAYS.
The politics of European imperialism have brought them to their end and have used them up. Continuing them means UTTER DESTRUCTION.
The alternative is revolutionary politics.
But with a revolutionary outlook, we can create democratic institutions, sustain what exists, and develop our people’s rights and freedoms. With revolutionary policies we can resist imperialism and fascist attacks, we can set up barricades with revolutionary politics to obstruct attempts to make the people pay the bill for the crisis. These lands are pregnant with new June uprisings.
But if reformism and opportunists do not change their existing line, they will only get in the way of an uprising. And be sure, the rebellious people will break these ties in the end.
IN CONCLUSION;
No one should see this attack as an ordinary attack. Fascism wants to DESTROY revolution, revolutionism, the democratic struggle and the organisation of the people, whatever it is.
They have to create disorganisation to continue their own looting and to ensure their own survival and that of imperialism they have to silence the people.
The EU, reformist policies, policies of Kurdish nationalists, policies backed by the CHP, have finished off the DMOs and destroyed the dynamics of resistance. The result is clear. When fascism is attacking, they cannot even react so much as to “put on a pretense of reaction”. The responsibility for this is the reformism that has governed these institutions thus far.
The only way to prevent AKP fascism from getting the people to surrnder is to RESIST.
Resistance is only possible with REVOLUTIONARY POLITICS.
The resistance must have anti-imperialist, anti-fascist content.
Neither the USA, nor the EU, nor the AKP has a single policy that benefits the people and the country.
The US, the EU, the AKP are not allies of the people’s forces, but enemies.
THOSE WHO RESIST WIN, THOSE WHO DO NOT RESIST ARE DESTROYED. Everyone will make their decision in line with this.
