DHKP Revolutionary People's Liberation Party PRESS RELEASE Nr: 11 Date: 5 May 2001 To all those left groups which are "in between" and ignore the greatest resistance of our recent history There is a crossroad in front of the left, revolutionary and democratic forces: either whatever being a revolutionary and democrat requires us to do will be done in terms of ideology, moral, consciences and practice or the idea of being left will be abandoned. In regards to our great resistance, which has continued for three seasons, a part of the left has shown an attitude that contradicts the names they go by. This is a clear fact that no one can deny. We invite all these groups "to stand up" and to question themselves and the days we currently live in. It may be astonishing for such an invitation to be for revolutionaries. Because, until now such an invitation for "standing up" has always been done by revolutionaries to the people. But today, a part of the left is in need of such an invitation. This call is "an urgent call" by our Party to all those forces that consider themselves revolutionary, progressive, leftist, democratic, socialist, Marxist-Leninist and patriotic but do not conduct themselves accordingly. It is urgent because revolutionaries are dying. It is urgent because this resistance gained a significance importance, even though some could not notice it yet, which will determine the future of our country. It is urgent because for the last 7 months a savageness and resistance has been continuing that there has been no other example of it. The number of martyrs of our resistance is more than 50. Each moment of the last 7 months has been very much alive, concrete and has been taking place before everyone's eyes. It is urgent because no left force, anywhere on earth, can stay stunned and paralysed to such a massacre and resistance. A part of our country's left has done it. Even the bourgeois humanitarians could not tolerate such a level of tyranny but the left has done it. This scenery is enough to show to everyone that the problem is not only the basic tactical divisions or political differences. It has shown that the left has more fundamental problems. THIS IS OUR CALL FOR A RECKONING AND INVESTIGATION 1.. The immediate duty is a reckoning. The most fundamental values and criteria of the left and revolutionaries became ambiguous. The agenda of the left must be the criteria of being a revolutionary and a democrat not the "Copenhagen criteria". Have a look at the following: a.. In the name of being left; "public pressure" tried to be created on those who resist, not the state. b.. In the name of being left; the doors of political party buildings were closed to the faces of 60-70 years old relatives and families of political prisoners. c.. In the name of being left; at the time when to resist was most needed, the directives of not coming out to streets and kicking the hunger strikers out of their party buildings were published. d.. In the name of being left; while the revolutionaries were being massacred next door, others willingly left their dormitories to make the enemy's operation easier to be carried out. e.. In the name of being left; following the massacre announcements were made declaring that revolutionaries had been eliminated. f.. In the name of being left; all they could do was to observe the dead bodies of revolutionaries when they were leaving the prisons one by one or in twos. g.. In the name of being left; even the funerals of revolutionaries were not attended. h.. In the name of being left; while revolutionaries were resisting against the savageness, they were cursing revolutionaries and the resistance in their journals. i.. In the name of being left; the resistance was announced as "the provocation of mobs" and the resisters as "members of religious sects" j.. In the name of being left; they said that there is an economic crisis in the country now, we cannot deal with F-type prisons, they are not on our agenda. No, this cannot be the left. This is not the way of being a leftist, a revolutionary and a democrat. Everyone, - as a political organisation, individual, party, trade union or any other form of organisations -, should ask the question of "where were we the last 7 months, what should we have done and what are we are going to do" to themselves and following to this a reckoning should be done as fast as possible. Ignoring the resistance cannot be explained in terms of current policies, theories and strategies. These are not valid excuses or explanations. They ignore the resistance but they also do not exist in any other areas or matters. Some stood up and said "no to poverty and corruption" and organised a meeting and then,.. Nothing. Another one said "the programme of labour", some others said "Nazim Hikmet" and some others are saying "peace". Their mutual point is to ignore the resistance. Without exception everyone said that the F-type prisons are the extension of the programme of the IMF. But the majority of left, especially the reformists, are now ignoring this connection, they spent extra effort to separate these two subjects. You are carrying out such analysis but not acting accordingly. You say there are other "agendas" but there is nothing done for these agendas either. If this is the case, then there is an escaping from this great clash with the oligarchy. Then all these great tactics and politics are the excuses for a retreat. A revolutionary and a democrat are those who agree with the theory of class struggle. The rule of the class struggle is clear; to escape is abolishment. To escape is a self-destruction. To escape is to bow down to the regime. If all the revolutionary and democratic forces do not wish to be abolished and wish to carry these titles, then the reckoning is therefore inevitable. 1.. All revolutionaries and democrats should criticise themselves about what they have done or what they have not done primarily in terms of revolutionary values. We are following the path of Mahir Cayan. We are coming from a tradition of self-sacrifice in Kizildere to prevent the executions of revolutionaries. And now there are "leftists" who only watch the massacre! There was no such tradition in the history of left. Then we have to question ourselves; who planted these seeds on our land? By whom and how did these seeds developed. On behalf of the left, if some people are saying "they will not support, they will not accommodate the hunger strikers in their premises and they will not take part in funeral ceremonies" everyone should question them and ask "what kind of revolutionaries are you?" Those who curse under the pretext of criticism, those who want to see the resistance as a part of a plot and those who show no respect for the martyrs will be questioned! Those who said "the resisters and those who died are coming from the shantytowns, we have nothing to do with them. The places we live in and even the restaurants we go to are different. There is no one in the prisons who we consider one of us" and still consider themselves revolutionaries will be questioned! Those who flee the resistance cannot flee from questioning. Who learned from Gulsuman Donmez who fell martyred in a small house in Armutlu and the self-sacrificial actions? And what they have learned? The majority of the left is still busy with the bourgeois theories on "the holiness of life" Even the mutual ground on which the great resistance and the revolutionary heroism both ideologically and politically could be discussed has been destroyed. Some are still discussing, in the middle of this great savageness and resistance, whether "setting yourself fire" is right or wrong. The revolutionary prisoners had already made it public, in letters sent to oligarchy they said that, "if an operation takes place, we will set ourselves on fire." They were not playing games. They were not bluffing. Because the class struggle is not a game. If the left is discussing the action of "setting yourself on fire", instead of saying "what a savage state, it carried out the attack deliberately", the position of the left is questionable. They have no problem with the state. Therefore, never mind being a revolutionary, they even cannot carry the title of "opposition of the regime" Those who even did not show any emotional response when the revolutionaries were massacred have nothing to do with being revolutionary. No one can even discuss matters like politics and tactics with them. We will discuss the values. And those who do not possess these values will be questioned and they will no longer be able to carry these titles. 2.. It must be questioned how being competitive, pragmatism and bourgeois theory and culture brought the left to this level! The essence of resistance is obvious. The revolutionary captives stood against and demanded the abolishment of the State Security Courts and the Anti-terror law. These demands were the demands of those who consider themselves revolutionaries and democrats. But when the clashes intensified some of the known left groups disowned these demands. This is how their logic was working. "if I support them, they will gain strength" What happens if you do not support then? This is what happens. Instead of supporting, you put yourself into competition and you give way to a massacre by relying on Europe and announcing "the end of the resistance". You give a hand to the oligarchy to massacre us and bring the "possibility" of an attack in Northern Iraq in front of the F-type prisons and change the agenda. Or instead of publishing the news about Death Fast martyrs, you help the oligarchy by publishing the news about the opening of an association in such a place. The essence of the problem is as follows: the state say, "I will make you surrender your beliefs, you will no longer be a revolutionary, anti-imperialist or anti-fascist anymore" This is what the state said on December 9, 2000. Then a self-criticism becomes essential. And the main question of the self-criticism is "were we wrong when we announced the end of the resistance by relying on the declaration of the state on December 9?" The second point is that the policy of the state is supported by both the US and Europe. And it is the same Europe, which suggested the construction of the F-type prisons. Another self-criticism became essential again: "Did not we make a mistake when we mentioned the "international standards" and expected democratisation from Europe?" You can not be a leftist or a revolutionary by relying on imperialism and believing in the oligarchy. If those who approve of Turkey's membership to the EU and who believe in imperialism being a world-wide defender of democracy and human rights do not question their own analysis, they can no longer be considered left. 3.. Those who try to be "in between" must see that they are in the same front with the state. Some political parties and institutions, which carry the titles of revolutionary, socialist and democrat, stated their attitude as "we are neither taking the side of the state nor the side of those who are in Death Fast" on the 7th month of the resistance. This has no other meaning but to support the operation of the state to eliminate revolutionaries. It is before everyone's eyes; the operation of elimination was supported in order not to be a target of the state's violence. The state thought "they would finish off the revolutionaries when they were thrown into the F-type prisons". The TUSIAD and the bourgeois media thought the same way. Also the reformists and legalists thought the same way. Those who support Europe and carry the title of "left" thought the same way and they dreamt of a medium where they could play the game of a democratic-civil society. Therefore following the massacre an intensified wave of criticism-curse was started by the "left". They were criticising and cursing. Even their curse and criticism were copied from somewhere else. They copied it from the state, from the oligarchy. On the one hand they were getting angry at the state and bourgeois media and then they were copying what they said and targeted us. While opposing the state, revolutionaries and democrats, at least during such a period, cannot use what the state have used. The scenery is clear. The left has lost its most righteous stands. It has lost the feeling of shame, responsibility and conscience. Those who criticise the resistance by using these definitions on the left's behalf, those who become the accomplices of oligarchy in eliminating revolutionaries must see the truth. They even destroy their ideological foundations. THIS IS OUR CALL FOR PRACTICAL DUTIES: 1.. We invite the whole left to launch a mutual offensive on the front of the ideological struggle. For months we have been carrying out an ideological warfare against the deceits, demagogy and the counter-revolutionary propaganda of the oligarchy on the issue of the Death Fast and the resistance as a whole. But the left is not on our side. On the contrary we are also trying to explain them. What kind of leftist or revolutionary are they? They are like a closed box! All their concern is to save their own dens! They even do not bother with ideological struggle, neither within the left nor against the oligarchy. They do not want to attract the oligarchy's anger instead they are happy to play within the boundaries that are drawn by the state. The state claims that "there is pressure on prisoners by illegal organisations". Is it not necessary for the entire left to defend being organised and stand against the bourgeoisie as a block? But no way. While we are trying to counter the deceits of the state before the masses, the majority of them are joining in the bourgeoisie's front and bringing about the definitions like "will of individuals" "not a political organisation but a sect" Therefore it is essential to question their stand and ideology. 2.. There are things that those who "think in a different way" can do, "to think in a different way" cannot be an excuse for doing nothing. You can say "there should not be deaths" You can think this way. You can oppose Hunger Strikes as a way of struggle. Even those who believe in this way have a responsibility to do something to stop the death of strikers. Those who only criticise and curse without lifting a finger should see their own reflections. "I talk about things but what do I do? What is my position in this fight?" There are many things that can be done by everyone, trade unions, political parties, professional chambers, different groups and circles. It has no validity to say "what if our institution is closed down, what if our leading figures are arrested" There will be trials and arrests. But when thousands of trade unions, chambers, political parties adopt the same attitude, the state cannot open trials and no one can be arrested. For the sake of avoiding lawsuits, if everyone retreats and tries to protect themselves, there would be no resistance and no struggle. These are the most basic principles of the class struggle. But the decomposition and de-politicisation of the left made them forget this simple fact. It is our duty to remind them. Being a coward and a revolutionary or a socialist do not exist together. They are making the theory of "being a revolutionary and a democrat without paying the ultimate price". No, there is no such a revolutionary, democrat, socialist or communist that exists on Earth. Those who disagree and prepare themselves not to pay the price are deceiving the people about the title they use. 3.. Let us stop deceiving each other. We are not inviting you for an abstract unity. Everyone knows the facts. First of all, before discussing unity with those who announced "do not to take streets" while we were beaten and massacred, there are some other things we would like to discuss with them. Secondly, unity is a serious matter that requires responsibility. Platforms and unions are founded without attendance in meetings or complying with the any mutual decisions. Doors of political parties, trade unions and magazines are closed. Nothing can be done in such a non-serious way. Everyone is summoning but to whom, it is not certain. Issuing summons became almost an "action". If a statement was issued and published in a paper with 3-5,000 readers, that's it. Have a look at trade unions. They think issuing press releases is an extraordinary thing. But those who are in leading positions of these unions are considering themselves as cadres or supporters of certain socialist or revolutionary organisation. Most of them are even not observing the resistance as someone from "outside". They have no idea about the martyrs or the developments. When to say something became inevitable, they start to chew the words. This non-seriousness and apolitical stance are done under the titles that cost lives for centuries. Let us stop cheating each other. Let us stop this comedy, let us stop mumbling about tactics, politics, main forces, secondary forces etc. Fascism exists clearly. The resistance, its strength and invincibility exist. No other agenda can be more important than this. Those who still talk about the "agenda of working class" and the "agenda of the economic crisis" and ignore the resistance are charlatans. We repeat: No individual or organisation on earth that carry the title of left can be an audience for this massacre and resistance. If it is the case, its aim, line and titles are questionable. The titles of institutions considering themselves to be democratic institutions, socialist parties or revolutionary organisations, and who still prefer to keep quite, cannot keep their titles. 4.. Let us organise and strengthen the support to the resistance in every area. As long as the left in Turkey could not be the hands, feet, eyes, ears and militants of this historic resistance, then its historical duty has not being taken up. For three seasons now our captives have been resisting despite of death. The problem is no longer only F-type prisons but it has been converted into a war of resistance against fascism. Yes, the price we are paying is enormous. Its consequences will be great as well. Those who show their own despair, hopelessness as a theory of defeat should give up doing so. Everyone will see that all these costs we are paying are not for nothing. No one can stay apart of this war of resistance. For which day is the left reserving itself? While revolutionaries are massacred right beside you to say, "this is not my business" is not a leftist attitude. Those who say it are already dead. They are not left. Without questioning itself morally, ideologically, philosophically the left cannot get away with it. The dreams of the oligarchy and imperialism to eliminate us are destroyed by our resistance. We are claiming that imperialism and oligarchy will not prevent Turkey from becoming ripe for revolution, they will not succeed to eliminate revolutionaries. We have proven this with our martyrs, resistance and heroes. If those who still carry the thoughts of "elimination" exist within the left, if they are still doing calculations for such a possibility, they should abandon them. To retreat is death. During such a historical period, as the left of Turkey, our hands, tongues and minds cannot be shaken. When the left in Turkey stands up, it is a great force. When the intention is to resist and struggle, we can still be together, side by side, without signing "protocols". This is what we need to do today. For the left in Turkey, there are no excuses like ideology, practice and tactics to stay away from the resistance. When such excuses come out, we will consider those who use them as being cowards and two-faced cheaters. Our party is announcing the call and caution of our people, our revolution and this great historical resistance. Stop creating theories for retreat and non- resistance. Those who use left and revolutionary titles should not cheat the masses. Let us get a hold of our revolutionary and democratic duties. REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLES LIBERATION PARTY
