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Statement of the Communist Party of Turkey on the May Day rally at Taksim Square Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) May 7, 2010 http://int.tkp.org.tr/, int@tkp.org.tr Â
Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, You have withdrawn your police forces in order to exploit the May Day by the help of your liberal disciples, to market yourself as “the friend of labor”, an We won Taksim, now we have to win the country! We have a lot to do; we have a lot to achieve! The Communist Party of Turkey salutes all laborers, students and intellectuals who rallied all over the country, furthermost at Taksim, Istanbul in order to empower the voice of the working class. The May Day rally at Taksim Square has been marked not only as a response of the masses to unemployment, poverty, exploitation, injustice and oppression, but also as a slap on the face of Prime Minister Erdoğan who had been planning to transform May 1 into a “Justice and Development Party carnival” so as to conceal his government’s anti-labor, collaborative and reactionary policies under the disguise of democratization. The Prime Minister’s words “you haven’t achieved anything, I granted them to you” are a reflection of his acrimony caused by the resulting picture. d to polish your reputation which suffered a lot due to the resistance of TEKEL workers recently. This year, with a single order you gave, you stopped the government terror, which had covered Taksim skies with tear gas and the streets with police panzers and batons for the last three years. You have come out into the open; you have proven well who has been causing all those “conflicts”. You have withdrawn your police force, and you have made a great effort this time to exclude labor unions, resisting workers, left-wing parties and movements by utilizing your partisan trade unions. You forced those who have perceived the May Day as a “national disaster” for their entire lives, those who have been hostile to the working class, to rally on May 1. You tried to save the day by substituting the police invasion with the invasion of your “partisan” trade unions. But you couldn’t… This show was given away. This show was given away by the decisive act of the communists and vanguard workers, by the awakening of the workers amassed behind certain trade unionists at your disposal. When members of those unions unfurled the banner saying “Stop Privatizations”, when they shouted the slogans of “general strike” along with revolutionary, communist workers, your partisan unionists started muttering “what on earth are we doing here”. It is you who couldn’t achieve anything at all. You couldn’t take over the May Day from the working class! Dear fellows of TKP, dear comrades,
We salute you all. Communist Party of Turkey left Taksim Square early since the atmosphere of “forlornness” and “idleness” after the resistant representatives of the working class seized the platform, which had been attenuated considerably because of the rivalry between unions and had no color or message to convey to the masses up to that moment, clashed with the spirit of May Day. As we stated in the demonstration on at Dolmabahçe, in which tens of thousands got together, May 1, 2010 cannot take on a meaning through exaggerating the numbers, amusing ourselves by saying “we have stepped on Taksim Square” or making excuses for the flaws within the body of the working class that has gradually become chronic problems. We have a lot to do. We should get organized; we should further the struggle against the capitalist order, against imperialism. We have to free ourselves rapidly from the drawbacks that occasionally bring the May Day into disrepute and impersonate the working class movement. We must reinforce the “general strike” scheduled for May 26. We shall bring those who have stolen the jobs and bread of the people to account. We won Taksim, now we have to win the country. May 3, 2010 Communist Party of Turkey Political Bureau |
All of you have realized the
show the government has tried to stage; you have given a great meaning to the
May Day by acting against this plot. After all those years, the glorious flag of
the working class could be planted at Taksim Square owing to you. With great
discipline and steadfastness, you have increased the hopes and energy for the
upcoming struggles by becoming a mass that has even exceeded our expectations.