An internationalist event took place in Athens at Rigillis Square, near the Turkish Embassy, on the afternoon of Thursday, April 10, demanding the release of comrades arrested by the authoritarian regime of Erdoğan and all political prisoners.
Dozens of comrades from the Workers Revolutionary Party (EEK), Communist Liberation, EKKE (organizations of ANTARSYA), KED, the Popular Struggle Front "Electra Apostolou," the People's Front (comrades from Turkey and Kurdistan), KKE (m-l), and Rosinante were present, chanting slogans for the liberation of the detainees.
The rally was organized in response to the arrest of comrade Levent Dölek, vice-president of DIP (Revolutionary Workers' Party—a sister organization of EEK) and many other activists in Turkey. Alongside İmamoğlu, the leader of the bourgeois opposition, Erdoğan launched a wave of arrests targeting students, workers, and leftist activists. Levent Dölek, who is also a representative of the main university union, Eğitim-Sen, at Istanbul University, was arrested after a police raid on his home on the morning of March 26 and remains detained in Turkish prisons without specific charges.
As the rally began at 7 p.m. in Rigillis Square, a comrade and political refugee from Turkey shared the news that 102 students, including Levent Dölek, had been temporarily released and would face trial. This is a victory for the movement—one that must continue until the overthrow of the Erdoğan regime in Turkey, as well as the Mitsotakis government in Greece and the capitalist classes fueling nationalism on both sides of the Aegean. Despite the release of the 102, another 200 remain imprisoned in Turkey.
It should be noted that the Mitsotakis government had ordered police forces and riot units (MAT) to prevent the march from reaching the Turkish Embassy. The comrades symbolically moved toward the embassy but were blocked by police. However, their chants echoed through central Athens and will reach the neighboring country, fostering internationalist solidarity and friendship against the capitalists on both sides and imperialism.
"Turkish activists and the Intifada will forever light the path for the peoples!"
Thodoros Kotsumpos
