Articles
Since a long time, friends and supporters from Greece, Europe and America have been sending me messages with two questions. What is the situation on the islands as far as the refugee issue is concerned and how can they help?
Danıştay’ın Ayasofya’yı müzeden yeniden camiye dönüştürme kararı ve kararın alınmasında başrolü oynayan Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan’ın bu kararı hemen onaylaması, milliyetçi gafleti ve dinci tahammülsüzlüğü gösteren gerici bir harekettir. Bu karar Doğu Akdeniz’deki ve Ege Denizi’ndeki milliyetçi rekabetin değirmenine su taşıyor ve bölgede kanlı bir savaş riskini arttırıyor.
Incumbent president Andrzej Duda won in the second round of presidential election with the result of 51.03%. 68% of voters went to the polling stations on July 12th, which was a record turnout. Andrzej Duda associated with post Solidarity movement conservative party Law and Justice (Prawo I Sprawiedliwość (PiS)) was voted with the majority of labourers, farmers, unemployed people and residents of small towns. Rafał Trzaskowski associated with post Solidarity Neo-liberal opposition mainly Citizens Platform party (Platforma Obywatelska (PO)) was voted by entrepreneurs, managers and residents of large cities.
Parties, groups and left-wing publications from around the world have been sending in messages of solidarity to Şiar Rişvanoğlu and the DIP (Revolutionary Workers Party) of whihc he is a member. We have already published messages from the Polibureau of the EEK (Workers’ Revolutionary Party, Greece) and from two Argentine organisations (see previous entries). A successful petition has also been launched in Turkey itself and the process of collection of signatures is still going on. Here are some other messages.
Repudiamos las agresiones contra Şiar Rişvanoğlu, militante del Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores.
Reclamamos la investigación y esclarecimiento del ataque y amenazas y enviamos nuestra solidaridad a Şiar Rişvanoğlu y a los compañeros del DIP.
La procedencia del ataque es indudable. El gobierno de Erdogan, en retroceso ante la población, viene impulsando una feroz campaña chauvinista, como lo acaba de poner en evidencia la conversión de Agha Sofía, una reliquia arquitectónica bizantina, en mesquita.
Nos solidarizamos con Şiar Rişvanoğlu, los compañeros del DIP y todos los luchadores de Turquía.
We have lent our support and ideas to the anti-racist popular revolt numerous times in these pages. We have pointed out to the absence of organized labor as a whole (that is, beyond notable individual examples) from the scene as a major obstacle, and accused the union bureaucrats for stifling rank-and-file activity for the fear of this sort of activity getting out of their hands. The participation of the working class with its full strength, autonomous organizations and demands, we have said, would both carry the revolt further by a great leap. Finally, we pointed to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (ILWU) massive Juneteenth rally in Oakland, California as an important first step, but only a first step.
On July 20th, Monday, a second major step has occurred. Organized under the label “Strike for Black Lives”, various workers belonging to a number of labor unions took action in support of the popular revolt in some 200 cities across the country.
Η Βαλκανική επανάσταση και η παγκόσμια επανάσταση θα φέρουν χώρες μαζί στην προσπάθειά τους να εκπαιδεύσουν τις νέες γενιές της εργατικής τάξης όχι μόνο στο πεδίο της αδελφοσύνης των εθνών και θρησκειών αλλά επίσης στις τέχνες, την μουσική και τη λογοτεχνία. Είναι τότε που οι εγγονοί και οι εγγονές των εργατών της Τουρκίας, Τούρκοι και Κούρδοι, και της Ελλάδας, Ρουμ και Γιουνάν, θα πάρουν μαζί την Ιστανμπούλ/Κωνσταντινούπολη για να χαρούν την ομορφιά της Αγίας Σοφίας, που δεν είναι ούτε ένας καθεδρικός ναός, ούτε τζαμί αλλά η ενσάρκωση της ομορφιάς. Μετά την τελική κατάκτηση, η Αγία Σοφία και η Σουλεϊμανίγιε θα απλώσουν τα χέρια μεταξύ τους καλώντας τo Ναό της Ayodhya και το Τζαμί του Μπάμπρι για να αγκαλιαστούν ευτυχισμένοι για πάντα.
Balkan devrimi ve dünya devrimi işçi sınıfının genç kuşaklarının eğitilmesi için çeşitli ülkeler arasında işbirliğini geliştirecektir. Bu kuşaklar sadece halkların kardeşliği konusunda değil, sanat, müzik ve edebiyat konusunda da iyi eğitilecektir. İşte o zaman, Türkiye işçilerinin torunları Kürdüyle Türküyle, Yunanistam işçilerinin torunları da Yunanıyla Rumuyla bir araya gelerek İstanbul ya da Konstantiniyye, hangi adla anılırsa anılsın, bu muhteşem kentte, ne katedral ne cami olan, sadece güzelliğin cisimleşmesi olan bir Ayasofya’nın güzelliğini birlikte derin derin içlerine çekeceklerdir.
The Berkeley candidate Terry Taplin, on the other hand, claims to be independent, and moreover, has named his platform a “Labor Slate”. This, we understand, is at least a formal break with the Democratic Party, the shadow of which has been hovering over the DSA for long. We deem independent candidates running against age-old Democrats under the banner of labor to be a positive development. In our numerous written materials, we have put forward the slogan of a “clean independent slate for a workers’ party, workers’ candidates, and a workers’ government”. We therefore should pay attention to this move.
The Balkan revolution and the world revolution will bring countries together in their effort to educate the young generations of the working class not only in the domain of the fraternisation of nations and religions but also in the arts and music and literature. It is then that the grandsons and granddaughters of the workers of Turkey, Turkish and Kurdish, and of Greece, Rum and Yunan, will get together in Istanbul/Constantinople to enjoy the beauty of the Hagia Sophia, which is neither a cathedral nor a mosque but beauty incarnated.
After the final conquest, Hagia Sophia and Süleymaniye will extend arms to each other and summon the Aydohya Temple and the Babri Mosque to embrace in bliss forever.
Η απόφαση του τουρκικού Συμβουλίου της Επικρατείας για μετατροπή της Αγίας Σοφίας από μουσείο σε τζαμί και η άμεση επικύρωσή της από τον πρόεδρο Ερντογάν -που έχει τον κύριο λόγο- είναι μια αντιδραστική πράξη εθνικιστικής τύφλας και θρησκευτικής μισαλλοδοξίας, που ρίχνει λάδι στους εθνικιστικούς ανταγωνισμούς στην ανατολική Μεσόγειο και το Αιγαίο, αυξάνοντας τους κινδύνους μιας αιματηρής πολεμικής σύρραξης στην περιοχή.
The decision by the Turkish Council of State to convert Hagia Sophia from museum back into a mosque, and its immediate ratification by President Erdogan - who had played the main role to the decision- is a reactionary act of nationalist blindness and religious intolerance. It is adding fuel to the fire of nationalist rivalries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Seas, increasing the risks of a bloody war in the region.
We need to learn from this unfortunate incident. Turkish has an apt saying for such situations: “One scourge is worth more than a thousand counsels.” If only, of course, one is ready to learn from that scourge! Unfortunately, despite all the calamities suffered in recent years, a variety of movements that claim to subscribe to the heritage of the Fourth International are adamant in not learning. We optimistically expect that this will not be the case this time.
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟ ΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΚΕΝΤΡΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗΣ ΤΟΥ ΕΕΚ (ΕΡΓΑΤΙΚΟ ΕΠΑΝΑΣΤΑΤΙΚΟ ΚΟΜΜΑ – ΕΛΛΑΔΑ)
Το ΕΕΚ καταγγέλλει, ανεπιφύλακτα και κατηγορηματικά, αυτήν την εγκληματική δράση φασιστικού τρόμου, μπροστά σε όλη την Ελληνική εργατική τάξη και τον λαό, μπροστά σε όλα τα διεθνή εργατικά και λαϊκά, κοινωνικά και απελευθερωτικά κινήματα! Η απειλή ενάντια στον Σιάρ Ρισβάνογλου είναι απειλή ενάντια σε όλους μας, σε όλους τους καταπιεσμένους στην περιοχή και όλο τον κόσμο.
Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the EEK
(Workers Revolutionary Party of Greece)
The EEK denounces, unequivocally and categorically, this criminal act of fascist terror, in front of all the Greek working class and people, in front of all the international workers’ and popular, social and liberation movements! The threat against Şiar Rişvanoğlu is a threat against all of us, all of the oppressed in the region and all over the world.
Solidarity for Şiar Rişvanoğlu and all victims of chauvinism, fascism and State terrorism!
Our solidarity now is more vital than ever as the chauvinist fevers and reactionary war dangers spread by imperialism, the ruling classes and their State apparatuses are hovering over the peoples on both sides of the Aegean Sea, in Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and internationally.
Without internationalism we cannot breathe anymore!
Hands off our brother Şiar Rişvanoğlu!
1. Η λαϊκή εξέγερση επέστρεψε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες της Αμερικής. Και τι επιστροφή! Τη στιγμή που γράφουμε αυτές τις θέσεις*, ο λαός είναι ήδη στους δρόμους εδώ και τρεις εβδομάδες, έχουν ενωθεί Μαύροι και Λευκοί (και Λατίνοι, Λατίνες και Ασιάτες και Ασιάτισσες και όλοι οι άλλοι) στον αγώνα για δικαιοσύνη και κοινωνική πρόνοια, έχουν αψηφήσει τις επιθετικές τακτικές της αστυνομίας από τη Νέα Υόρκη ως την Καλιφόρνια, έχουν ταπεινώσει τον Τραμπ στην προσπάθειά του να προσφύγει στο στρατό για την καταπολέμηση των μαζών, έχουν έτσι «κυριαρχήσει» στο δρόμο, για να χρησιμοποιήσω το στρατιωτικό όρο του Τραμπ, προς απογοήτευση των δυνάμεων του «νόμου και της τάξης», και έχουν αποσπάσει παραχωρήσεις από τις δυνάμεις της καθιερωμένης καπιταλιστικής τάξης. Τι επιτεύγματα!
Los diputados en el parlamento de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires del Partido Obrero (PO) y del Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (PTS), unidos en el Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores (FIT), han sido atacados ferozmente por la Organización Sionista Argentina (OSA-Organización Sionista de Argentina) por su posición sobre el sionismo y los derechos del pueblo palestino. Condenamos inequívocamente y como una cuestión de solidaridad internacionalista de parte de un partido revolucionario del Medio Oriente, este ataque vicioso contra un frente y dos partidos que son parte de las fuerzas políticas que representan los intereses de la clase obrera argentina y expresamos nuestra solidaridad con ellos.
The deputies in the parliament of the City of Buenos Aires of the Partido Obrero (PO-Workers Party) and the Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (PTS-Socialist Workers Party), united in the Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores (FIT-Front of the Left and Workers), have been ferociously attacked by the Organización Sionista Argentina (OSA-Zionist Organisation of Argentina) for their position on Zionism and on the rights of the Palestinian people. We condemn, unequivocally and as a matter of internationalist solidarity on the part of a Middle Eastern revolutionary party, this vicious attack on a front and two parties that are a part of the political forces that represent the interests of the Argentine working class and express our solidarity with them.
Trump is raising the stakes. From the position of “president of law and order”, he is turning into the presidential candidate of Ku Klux Klan. He used the 4th of July, the national holiday celebrating America’s independence, gained in 1776 through a revolutionary war, to set the terms of his strategic response to the immense social movement that brought millions of people out on the streets after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota at the end of May. In the speeches he made on Mount Rushmore on Friday the 3rd and at the White House on Saturday the 4th, he engaged in a headlong attack on the entire mass movement, not even distinguishing between those who took to the streets to demand justice and finally create a solution to the unceasing police brutality against African Americans using the classical methods of mass demonstrations and the element that tended towards looting, arson and other kinds of unorganised and wanton violence.
We are publishing here issue No.3 for the year 2020 (Issue No. 135) of Communist of Leningrad, the bi-monthly publication of the Russian Party of Communists in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). We had earlier published the previous issue on our website. (RedMed)
July 5th has arrived! Today is the day when the water of San Francisco Waterfront turned red with workers’ blood. On 1934 this day, the police murdered two of our fellow workers who were defending their right to organize. This criminal act triggered a massive response from all the workers of the city, culminating into the San Francisco General Strike!
Την 1η Ιουλίου 2020 το Ισραήλ, υπό την κυβέρνηση του ακροδεξιού πρωθυπουργού Νετανιάχου, προχωρά σε ένα ακόμη έγκλημα κατά του Παλαιστινιακού λαού. Όπως έχει ήδη ανακοινωθεί, το Ισραήλ θα προσαρτήσει την κοιλάδα του Ιορδάνη, στην κατεχόμενη Δυτική Όχθη, σημαντικό μέρος των εδαφών που κατέλαβε με τον πόλεμο του 1967.
On July 1st 2020, Israel, under the government of the far-right Prime Minister Netanyahu, is committing another crime against the Palestinian people. As it has already been announced, Israel will annex the Jordan Valley to the occupied West Bank, a significant part of the territory occupied by the 1967 war.
The Friends of Palestine against Imperialism and Zionism Platform held a demonstration in front of the so-called Israeli Consulate in Levent, Istanbul, in order to protest the Israel’s U.S-backed plan to annex up to 30% of the West Bank. The platform marched from the Levent underground station to the Consulate building, chanting slogans and carrying a long banner saying “side with the intifada, not with imperialist aggression and the Zionist annexation!”.
Elon Musk, the CEO of high-tech giants SpaceX and Tesla, has acclaimed a celebrity status around the world over the last few years with his company’s supposedly green-friendly products, eccentric behavior, media personality, and his supposed “innovativeness”. He himself has done everything in his power to enhance this boastful public persona, from launching space shuttles “for fun” to naming his new-born child after a computer code. As a result, this sassy poster-boy of the Silicon Valley bourgeoisie is revered as an innovative miracle-man in a number of business and high-tech R&D circles. His South African origin and occasional appeals for green energy or universal basic income lure some of the leftist intellectuals around the world to sympathize with him.
We are proud to present to our readers Issue No. 3 for 2020 of Sovetskoe Vozrozhdenie. Бюллетень Ассоциации «Советский Союз» or in English Soviet Renaissance. Bulletin of the Association “Soviet Union”. The very first issue of the journal was published in December 2019 and Issue No. (2020 (1)) were also posted on RedMed.
En dépit de la persistance de l'épidémie de coronavirus dans le pays et du risque d'infection lors du vote, les autorités russes ont décidé de procéder à un vote le 1er juillet 2020 sur la modification de la Constitution en vigueur de la Fédération de Russie, ignorant le fait que la Constitution en vigueur, déjà violée lors de la préparation du vote, allait l’être à nouveau par la tenue de ce scrutin. Toute la responsabilité, et pas seulement historique, de ces violations, de la préparation, de l'organisation, de la tenue du vote du 1er juillet et de ses conséquences pour le pays et ses citoyens incombe entièrement aux organisateurs et aux complices de ce tragique événement. Mais cette responsabilité, au moins morale, retombera sur tous ceux qui viendront le 1er juillet et voteront en faveur d'un ensemble d'amendements à la Constitution.
Российские «власть предержащие» решили, несмотря на продолжающуюся в стране эпидемию коронавируса и опасность заражения при голосовании, провести 1 июля 2020 г. голосование по внесению поправок в действующую Конституцию Российской Федерации, проигнорировав факт нарушения действующей Конституции при подготовке голосования и предстоящего ее нарушения при его проведении. Вся ответственность, причем не только историческая, за эти нарушения, за подготовку, организацию, проведение голосования 1 июля и его последствия для страны и ее граждан целиком и полностью лежит на организаторах и соучастниках этого трагифарса. Но эта ответственность, по крайней мере моральная, ляжет и на всех тех, кто 1 июля придет и проголосует за внесение пакета поправок в Конституцию.
Despite the ongoing epidemic of coronavirus in the country and the danger of infection during voting, the Russian "authorities" decided to vote on July 1, 2020 to amend the current Constitution of the Russian Federation, ignoring the fact of violation of the current Constitution in the preparation of the vote and its upcoming violation during its conduct. Full responsibility, not only historical, for these violations, for the preparation, organization, holding of the vote on July 1 and its consequences for the country and its citizens rests entirely with the organizers of this tragedy and their accomplices. But this responsibility, at least morally, will fall on all those who will go to the booths on July 1 and vote to introduce a package of amendments to the Constitution.
On Sunday 21st of June, Friends of Palestine Against Imperialism and Zionism organized a demonstration in front of the French honorary consulate in İzmir and protested the captivities of our two comrades, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and Ahmad Saadat.
ABD’de siyahî bir güvenlik görevlisi olan George Floyd’un polis tarafından katli üzerine patlak veren halk isyanı üçüncü haftasını doldururken tüm ülke sathına yayılmış ve Trump’ın sokaklardaki halkı askerî yöntemlerle sindirme planlarını da altüst etmiş bulunuyor.
Our readers would know well about the popular revolt that erupted in the USA upon the murder of George Floyd, a black security guard, by the police. In its third week, the revolt has spread from Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, to the entire country, and has forced Trump to back down on his plans for a military crackdown.
Le 4 juin 2020, Nikolaï Platochkine,historien, politologue, ancien diplomate, Directeur du Département des relations internationales et de la diplomatie de l’Université des sciences humaines de Moscou, responsable du Parti politique « Alternative pour la Russie (Parti du choix socialiste) » et du mouvement politique « Pour le nouveau socialisme » a été interpelé dans son appartement à Moscou. Le même jour, le tribunal de Basmanny de Moscou, dans le cadre de l’affaire pénale engagée par le tribunal pénal russe contre Platochkine pour incitation à l’émeute (partie 1.1 de l’article 212 du Code pénal de la Russie) et distribution de faux (partie 207.1 du Code pénal de la Russie), l’a envoyé en résidence surveillée pendant deux mois, jusqu’au 2 août.
4 июня 2020 года в Москве на своей квартире был арестован Николай Николаевич Платошкин, историк, политолог, бывший дипломат, заведующий кафедрой международных отношений и дипломатии Московского гуманитарного университета, руководитель Политической партии «Альтернатива для России (Партия Социалистического выбора)», возглавляющий политическое движение «За новый социализм». В тот же день Басманный суд Москвы по возбужденному СК РФ против Платошкина уголовному делу о склонении к массовым беспорядкам (часть 1.1 статьи 212 УК России) и распространении фейка (часть 207.1 УК России), отправил его под домашний арест на два месяца до 2 августа.
On June 4, 2020, Nikolai Nikolaevich Platoshkin, a historian, political scientist, former diplomat, head of the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy of Moscow Humanitarian University, head of the Political Party “Alternative for Russia (Socialist Choice Party)”, who heads also the political movement “For New Socialism”, was arrested in his apartment in Moscow. On the same day, the Basmanny Court of Moscow in the criminal case initiated by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation against Platoshkin on incitation to riots (part 1.1 of article 212 of the Criminal Code of Russia) and the spread of fake news (part 207.1 of the Criminal Code of Russia), put him under home arrest for two months until August 2.
George Floyd’un polis tarafından katli, bütün ABD çapında ırkçılığa ve polis terörüne karşı bir isyanın patlak vermesine yol açtı. Bu halk isyanı, federal ve eyalet çapında hükümetleri halka karşı planladıkları askerî operasyonlardan vazgeçmeye, çeşitli büyük şehir hükümetlerini ise polis bütçelerini kısıp kaynakları siyahî, Latino vb. nüfusa yönlendirmeye zorladı. Tabandan gelme işçiler, isyanla dayanışma içinde olduklarını defalarca gösterdiler. Sendika üyesi birçok işçi, sırtlarında sendika amblemli gömleklerle eylemlere katıldı. Minneapolis’te metro işçilerinin sendikası, şehirde isyan başlar başlamaz ulaşımı kesti. Birçok büyük şehirde otobüs şoförleri tutuklu isyancıları hapishanelere ve karakollara taşımayı reddetti. Ancak sendika pankartları, henüz hiçbir eylemde görülmüş değil. Bir bütün olarak sendikal hareket, sendika bürokratlarının Demokrat Parti’ye koşulsuz bağlılığı ve tabandan gelen her türlü militan kıpırdanmayı boğması sebebiyle isyana elini henüz uzatmadı.
The murder of George Floyd sparked off immense protests and militant actions against racism and police terror across the United States. The people’s uprising forced the federal and state governments to roll back their military operations against the people in revolt, and important city governments to curtail their policing budgets and channel the resources to people of color. Rank-and-file workers have demonstrated their solidarity numerous times. Many members have participated in rallies and protests in their union shirts. The subway drivers’ union in Minneapolis cut off all transportation the day the uprising began in the city. In many major cities, bus drivers refused to take the arrested rebels to jails or police stations. However, union banners have been remarkably absent from the protests so far. Organized labor as a whole has not yet lent its hand to the people in revolt because of the union bureaucracy’s unconditional backing of the Democratic Party and stifling of rank-and-file militancy.
So the peoples’ rebellion has come back to the United States of America. And what a comeback! At the time of writing, the people have been on the streets for three weeks already, have united black and white (and Latino/a and Asian and all the others) in the fight for justice and social provision, have defied the aggressive tactics of the police from New York to California, have humiliated Trump in his quest for recourse to the military in fighting the masses, have thus “dominated” the street, to use Trump’s military term, to the chagrin of the forces of “law and order”, and have thus wrested concessions from the forces of the established capitalist order. What achievements!
Exactly 50 years ago, Turkey was shaken by a workers’ insurgency that still stands as the apogee of working class militancy in the country’s history. The workers of Istanbul and the neighbouring cities of Gebze and Izmit occupied the streets and squares, filling the hearts of the bourgeois with fear, overrunning every barricade set up by the police and the army, forcibly wresting their fellow workers taken under custody from police precincts, chanting slogans on one of the main avenues of the city that has always been the pride of the wealthy so that, in the words of a worker in their ranks, “the rich shall see our power”, and displaying their undeniable power by demonstrating in front of government buildings and local army headquarters.