We mirror from Dem Volke Dienen following declaration issued by the TKP/ML:
Our Party is at an historical juncture. We held the first anticipated congress of our Party that we awaited with hope, excitement and yearning, on the 47th year of its foundation. We greet all our cadres, members, militants and fighters who made it happen, who witnessed this historic moment, who took a role in its organization, and contributed to it.
Our Congress is the culmination of a process, the claim and the hope that hundreds of martyrs have created for the future of our Party, for the enhancement of the cause of communism, for the end to the suffering of our toiling people coming from Turkish, Kurdish and various other nationalities, and for the freedom of all oppressed social strata.
Our Congress symbolises the continuity that allowed hundreds of thousands of people to turn towards it in hope for a better future, with thousands of cadres and militants standing by over 47 years. The founding philosophy, the method, the period of its foundation and the historical conditions have determined the essence of our Party. Our leader Ibrahim Kaypakkaya had founded our Party in a period when class struggle was promoted on an international level, when the revolutionary movement was dynamic at a time when rich theoretical debates were being held. He has laid the foundational bases of our party building on “the courage and positioning” created by the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, “the destructiveness” of social ideas and attitudes in the international level and national level, “the ideological sharpness” in the polarization and the struggle between the communist camp and the modern revisionist camp in the world scale, “the shakeout” of the ’68 revolutionary movement from the 50 year long pacifism, “the rupturism” of the 15-16th of June Great Workers’ Resistance and the land squatting of the peasantry, “the directiveness” of the dialectical and historical materialism. Based on this foundation, our Party has managed to follow a tenacious and challenging line against the organizational liquidation attempts of imperialism and fascism and against the ground that they have created for ideological liquidation over 47 years.
The communist line of our Party has been attacked due to the inevitable result of the two line struggle inside the party by the bourgeois liners for 47 years. There has been no period in which the opportunist-reformist-revisionist attacks against the line of our Party has not existed. Our Party has always managed to avert these attacks with its cadres, militants and sympathizers who are nourished by the proletarian revolutionary essence of our Party.
AT THIS MOMENT WE CELEBRATE THE WAVING OF THE RED FLAG RAISED BY OUR LEADER COMRADE KAYPAKKAYA ON HIS 70th BIRTHDAY AND ON THE 46th YEAR OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH BY HOLDING OUR CONGRESS WITH THE CLAIM OF BEING WORTHY OF HIM. AND WE DECLARE ONCE MORE: THE GLORIOUS RED FLAG OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROLETARIAT CONTINUES TO BE WAVED IN THE LANDS OF TURKEY WITH THE 1st CONGRESS OF OUR PARTY.
To the Proletariat of Turkey of Turkish, Kurdish and various other nations, and to our Toiling People;
Our Party held its 1st Congress at a very a critical period and juncture. This critical period both applies to our party and to the forces of the people, as well as to the imperialist-capitalist system and to the fascist dictatorship.
The recklessness of the imperialist-capitalist system in it continues to expand its economic-military attacks against the oppressed peoples and the nations of the world, and in which it imposes the choice of either enslavement or liquidation continues to deepen. The declining influence of the capital that engulfs the whole world exposes itself clearly with all its ugliness. The parasitic imperialist capital is concerned with re-producing itself by sucking the blood of the toilers and by draining the power of the all oppressed strata. However, this also symbols its crisis-based structure. The imperialist-capitalist system means crisis, war, annexation, high profit and a machinery of blood and tears. Today, the central groups of the imperialist system realize their market wars more bloodily, more sharply and more ambitiously. The young and dynamic Chinese social imperialism is increasing the competition by creating influence at a serious level with its development velocity in its evolution from exporting commodities to exporting capital in the markets of the regressing USA imperialism. The Russian imperialism and the Chinese social-imperialism have created a serious influence in the military-political scene through the alliance that they have established. As the contradictions deepen and the competition embraces a serious character in the “Western imperialist” bloc led by the USA imperialism, the relations between the Chinese social-imperialism and the Russian imperialism becomes stronger. Together with the existing economic-political crisis this situation intensifies the market wars and bring about a reality of a serious wars of conflict in all the controversial fields. The Middle East and Africa are the most prominent ones in this conflict zones. Also, in Latin America, that is considered to be the backyard of the USA, the US sovereignty is being shaken, and cracks are being shaped that might lay the ground for social unrests and struggles for new balances.
This picture of the world is not independent of our country, of the course. The reality of semi-colonial, semi-feudal economic-social-political structure leads to immediate effects of the international circumstances and developments. Together with the general political crisis the fascist dictatorship continuously increases the level of its attacks and seeks to find a suitable political form in order to make its attacks possible. This search for a form, as it serves the sovereign faction leading the system to consolidate its power, at the same time instigates a conflict between the sovereign classes. Another phenomenon that contributes to instigate the conflict between the sovereign classes is the intensification of the conflict between the imperialist powers.
But finally, the fascist dictatorship that is shaped around the AKP-MHP alliance and led by Tayyip Erdogan has been maintaining its campaign of complete aggression for the last 4 years. The masses of people are under a very intense political assault. It is as if all their basic economic, social and political rights are being usurped and their right to organization is being held down through the laws of fascism, decree-laws, jurisdiction, military, police and the civilian fascist organizations.
There has never been a stronger and a more intense attack towards oppressing the revolutionary, progressive and democratic forces. Particularly the movements that are waging armed struggle, the revolutionary forces have come under the attack the most. Our Party too, is a definitive target of this assault. 25 of our comrades were immortalized in this war of destruction and tens of our militants and sympathizers have been arrested.
The Kurdish National Movement and its struggle are among the basic and primary targets of fascism during this period. Particularly the Kurdish guerrilla forces, all the forces of national struggle in the legal and the democratic field are being forced to subdue and are being tried to be made isolated from the other social forces. The Kurdish policy of the fascist dictatorship is in the form of intense political-military assault both inside and outside the country. Together with this orientation, fascism initiated the occupation of Rojava. Afrin has been occupied and other cantons were being tried to be surrounded. However, this picture has not become a relief for the political crisis of the sovereign classes but has become the reason for the re-production of the crisis. The continuing structural crisis in the economic field has created a scenery where contradictions of the masses of people with the system has gained new dimensions through the periodic crisis that deepens the political crisis. Within the context of the Kurdish issue and regional developments the fascist dictatorship acts, shapes itself and embraces a specific orientation while being aware of its existential crisis and juncture. In this sense, the future phases of this period are creating the fertile ground for political and social crises and their eventual all out explosion.
Essentially our Party and other parts of the popular forces have dominance over the characteristics of these critical processes. However, the approaches of the sections that act with a programme of revolution in this period, where the revolutionary situation has the tendency to deepen, are being appropriately synthesized in unison with their class characters. Revolutionary movements and other popular forces are not essentially ready for this period, in which “outside the system” is being enhanced and the revolutionary struggle and will for intervention is being intensified. Particularly after a specific period, the multi-directional effects of liquidationism, “within the systemism”, consociationalism and reformism have engulfed these movements. The situation has worn away the approaches that takes the world into consideration, interprets it and shapes itself in accordance from a class perspective and created a degeneration in the manners that embrace the perspective of revolution. This is a crucial aspect for the popular forces as an ideological problem that has be overcome.
Our Party as well, has been experiencing all the effects of this period. It has embraced a line of a sharp and a continuous struggle against this process. In this current period, our Party has not only gathered its highest party organ that will again sustain the unity of will and action, but at the same time has taken a strong step by holding its Congress. This is a unique achievement in the history of our Party.
Our Congress has taken place in January as planned. It has been organized with top level security and systematicity. The platform for the participation of all the fields of our Party has been achieved and has been shaped in accordance with the measures that the regulations of our Party mandates. All security measures had been taken and our Congress was brought to completion safely and securely and all the participants have returned to their new fields of activities without any problems.
Our Congress has held its discussions over three basic topics. Firstly, “The handling of programmatic opinions and issues”; secondly, “Organizational problems and consideration of the current situation”; and thirdly, “Our orientation towards the future period”.
The preparations for the Congress were finalized with the discussions that stretched over a long period of time. In the preparation stage, together with the blows received by the enemy, “putschist and factionist” approaches have surfaced and finally this process has ended by the self-dismissal of “a band of party and war deserters” from the Party. Besides these, our Party has confronted the organizational strikes of the enemy during all this period and had to deal with the mordacity of war and the losses and problems created by it. In this sense, there has been a loss of concentration especially in the preparation process of our Party’s Congress. Organizational problems and developments have naturally contributed to this process. These conditions had an impact on all activities and preparations. Ultimately, despite this general scenery and intensified attacks of the enemy, our Party has brought its Congress to completion by being able to hold the planned discussions in security.
On programmatic discussions:
Considerations were made on the social and economic structure of the country, discussed by the already existing works and new works. The designation of the semi-feudal, semi-colonial socio-economic structure of the country by comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was confirmed in our Congress. In respect to this issue, it was determined that our comrade’s theoretical position and method was in essence correct. Discussions were deepened by focusing on the quantitative changes that have taken place since the time of our comrade up to this day. Especially the inadequacy of our Party in regards to the characteristics of semi-feudal economic structure and its theoretical projections were emphasized. The theoretical designations on the character that this economic system has embraced in the age of imperialism and its permanent characteristics were approved. The inner laws of capitalism and feudalism, the historical quality of imperialism, the historical characteristic of capital accumulation process, relations of production and relations of property that defines them, the relation in between the rural and the urban and examinations on the changing demographic structure were evaluated. In the discussions that were held on the economic and social configurations as a whole, it was determined that semi-feudal structure was sustained and continues its existence as the dominant production relation by re-producing itself. Our Party has shaped its position after a period of 6 month long investigation, research and discussion.
The Road to Revolution: (The Protracted People’s War): The 47 year long struggle of our Party is shaped with a line focused on the goal of New Democratic Revolution and in the path of the Strategy of Protracted People’s War. This is our basic strategy of revolution in our programmatic views. Our line of organizing and expanding the three weapons of revolutions, the Party, the Army and the United Front has been uncompromisingly maintained. In the strategy of revolution the working class has been designated as the vanguard and the peasantry has been designated as the essential force. Our strategy of Democratic People’s Revolution based on the worker-peasant alliance continues to be valid despite all the social, economic, political developments and quantitative changes. The decrease in the population in rural areas has not brought about the change in the goal of seizing the power piece by piece through Red Powers which finds its essence in the Peasant Guerrilla War. The New Democratic Revolution (Democratic People’s Revolution) and the Strategy of Protracted People’s War which KAYPAKKAYA has covered and drawn the general lines from in his Five Basic Documents continues to be valid. Our Congress has approved this. Within this context, our Party has discussed the situation of our revolution in the strategic defence stage and has embraced the approach of designating, concretizing and staging our war policy and tactical orientations. The 47 year long accumulation and experience has determined the obligation to embrace Guerrilla Warfare in the direction of the Strategy of Protracted People’s War more strongly by concretizing the necessity of being a fighting party, the stages of evolution and regression, and the situation that we are currently in.
In the discussions held on Revolution, New Democratic Revolution (Democratic People’s Revolution) and Socialism, basic Marxist-Leninist-Maoist principles were emphasized. It has been decided that the matter of revolution cannot exist without a leader and a vanguard, and a party, and that all approaches towards “revolution” and uses of the word of revolution obscure the fact that revolution is a matter of turning things upside-down. It has been observed that particularly in the international scale, some consequences brought about by spontaneous movements being defined as a revolution does not fit the reality and that these approaches and concepts disregard the real and the class essence of revolution. It is clear that the presentation of requisite forms that the system takes through popular movements without being destroyed creates false consciousness among the people and alienates them from an idea of revolution that will take place by destroying the system as a whole and breaking it into pieces through organized and armed struggle thus creating an illusion. Against these, our Party still holds its attitude and approach that it has embraced all along. Within this context a decision has been made in the issue of the essence and quality of the revolution of our country and that this problem cannot be imprisoned by the “democratic content” that includes the limitations on political and social freedoms created by fascism. Including all these, our revolution has the character of a New Democratic Revolution that takes land revolution as the essence and wipes away all feudal, semi-feudal forms of relations. Particularly the existing ambiguity regarding this issue is considered as a deviation. It has been emphasized that it is essentially an ideological attitude and an approach that the solution to the problem of democracy in the country is the duty of the New Democratic Revolution which is a part of the proletarian revolution and that the Socialist Revolution will be constructed with the leadership of proletariat and that it is an obligation to continue until Communism with the Proletarian Cultural Revolutions. Our Party has established that one of the most critical problems in this period is to undo the lack of confidence concerning most importantly socialism, to handle the ideological problems in the popular movements and the ambiguity among the masses of people over the regressions from socialism and their reasons. Within this context the ideological fractures led to reflections on the communist and revolutionary movement together with regressions from socialism. In this regard, our Party based on the approaches of comrade Mao Zedong and the experiences of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution has established a will to deepen the ideological struggle, to undo the lack of confidence and to enhance the class struggle. Another issue is the discussion about the state, and fascism as a form of state. It has been emphasized that fascism is a necessity that is imposed by the continuous political-economic crisis and the dependency of comprador bourgeoisie and big landlords to the imperialist-capitalist system. Besides this, the approaches upholding fascism is the form of a sovereignty of a clique of a sovereign class or a party dictatorship is refused. It is emphasized that the term Fascist Kemalist Dictatorship is sound and correct and that is the unique ideological-political definition in our country. It has been decided that all definitions and approaches besides this one are caused by the confusion in understanding the quality of the Turkish sovereign classes and through these approaches the essence of the problem is being obscured.
The National Issue and the Issue of Nations: The Congress of our Party adopts the approach of comrade KAYPAKKAYA over the multi-national social structure. Our Congress declared that it will follow the scientific approaches of our leader towards the National Question and particularly the Kurdish Question. It has been established that the National Question is essentially a Market Question, that Right to Self-Determination of the Kurdish Nation must be accepted unconditionally and only under these circumstances. The National Question can be settled and the matter of the liberation of the Kurdish Nation is one of the most important questions of our revolution. It is an obligation that a comprehensive solution to the National Question in the age of imperialism is part of the proletarian revolutions and that the proletariat is obliged to lead in this matter. The approach that the Kurdish National Question will be fully resolved through New Democratic Revolution including autonomy and guaranteeing the right to self-determination was embraced. Discussions have been held on the new situation of the Kurdish National Question since the time of comrade KAYPAKKAYA, its place in the social and political life and its place in revolution. The Kurdish nation has made progress in obtaining a national consciousness, reaching a national liberation programme compared to the stage of the National Movement 47 years ago. The Kurdish national consciousness and the struggle accompayning it have gained characteristics that affect and define the political processes. In this sense, even though it doesn’t have the character of defining the essence of our revolution, it holds the character of affecting the political and social dynamics. The Kurdish national consciousness develops every passing day and has gained a more organized and a political level within a programme. Within this context the historical tendency of national struggle to found a state has become a stronger tendency in the Kurdish nation for these reasons. These developments have created the approach to focus more onto this problem, to be more concerned about it, to take this contradiction as a more dynamic element of our social revolution in the Party. Our Party has discussed this question at every stage of its existence, and approached it based on the current point which the National Movement has reached. Our Congress has adopted the approach of leaning on the accumulation that our Party has obtained within the years. At this very point it was determined that in regards to the essence and the quality of the National Question there has not been any changes. However, it has increased its influence on the social contradiction and political processes with the increase of national consciousness and its demands, and its combative characteristics. Our Party views this question as one of the essential points of the struggle for revolution. Our Congress is determined to act by bringing forward the political contradictory character of the problem and by embracing the existing line to turn it into a political power. Our Party views the paradigms of “Democratic Autonomy” and “Democratic Confederalism” of the Kurdish National Movement to resolve the national question as a result of the changes in the international developments and balances. This paradigm is considered to not include the revolutionary resolution of the National Question, being in contradiction with the tendency to obtaining self-determination that will provide freedom to the oppressed Kurdish nation and be seen as an essential compromise given to the Turkish national sovereignty. Our critical position towards it, namely as viewing it as being within the system and class reconciliatory is maintained. Within this context the Kurdish National Movement is viewed by the Party as an Armed Reformist National Movement. However, this means the we maintain the position that as a political movement it is an ally of the revolution and among the forces of the people.
Besides these issues, in the matter of “imperialist-capitalist system and its general state” which includes programmatic opinions and is indeed a matter of programme, our Party has especially re-evaluated the issues of “ultra-imperialism”, “new imperialist centres and forces”, “the above the state character of monopolies”, “globalization and conformation of imperialist monopolies based on non-competitive cooperation”, “imperialist hegemony and the role that imperialism plays in semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries”. It has been emphasized that especially in the international and national scale the war, plunder and parasitic structure of imperialism has decreased its characteristics having the character of exporting capital. Within this context the bases laid out first by comrade Lenin and later by comrade Mao, concerning the essence of imperialism, its class structure and its orientation the criteria of the two great masters continues to be valid.
Another issue that our Congress views as an important issue of the social revolution and that was discussed on programmatic level is the issue of women as an oppressed gender. Included in the oppressed gender issue, LGBTI holds an important position in the struggle. Especially in the 8th Conference and the period thereafter, our Party has been timid about this issue. Since its past it has experienced positive developments in focusing and considering this issue. However, deviations within the Party have surfaced. It has been decided that our Party will continue to maintain its existing focus on the social character of the issue, to relate it to the process of revolution, to take it into consideration with its unique contradictions and characteristics. Our Party has adopted the decision to never miss out on the unique character of this social problem and never disregard its inner-relations, but at the same time keeping in mind the approach to view it with a class perspective. The struggle with the oppressive gender has a dynamic route in the class and social struggle. There are various women movements that are subject to this struggle. This struggle continues to develop and move forward together with the already existing problems. It has been decided to keep the current approach and develop a relation of alliance on the basis of creating unity of action with the organizations and forces that wage a “civil rights” struggle in the face of this problem.
The issue of oppressed beliefs: Our society has a multi-belief structure and historically oppressed beliefs have been deprived of basic freedoms and their democratic rights. Not only this, the belief systems that fall beyond the Sunni belief system has always been subjected to intense oppression, massacre and policies of assimilation. Due to this reason, the issue of freedom for other beliefs beside the Sunni belief system is one of the issues included in the struggle for New Democratic Revolution as a democratic right. Our Party is in a process of struggle and experience regarding this issue. This contradiction has a dynamic whcih is in the favour of revolution. Instead of trying to solve this issue within the system and its limits, our Party leans on the democratic consciousness and dynamics for struggle that this contradiction creates. The perspective laid out based on these dynamics. After all, all democratic rights that are limited, disregarded and usurped are a matter of class struggle. The character of contradictions that are based on difference in belief and cover the surface of class conflicts pushing them away as agendas requires our Party to see the equality among beliefs problem as a democratic problem and as something that has to be eliminated. Our party adopts the struggle against the division of society by beliefs and fights against the seeds of enmity which are sown between the oppressed sections of the society in this regard.
In addition to all of these questions above, our Party has discussed programmatic approaches and has taken decisions on the political issues such as the Environment, Youth, Culture, the Back Front, Short Party Programme, Short New Democratic Revolution Programme, Publications and the International. Also, various suggestions on the regulations of the Party have been discussed and the decisions to edit and re-arrange some particular articles were taken.
On organizational problems and the approach towards them:
Undoubtedly one of the most important agendas of the Congress of our Party was organizational problems and the assessment of the current period. The period since the 8th Conference has been examined and various assessments have been implemented. Various discussions were held on the line of the 8th Conference, on the status of the 8th Party Central Committee, on its orientations, its way of leadership, on the activities of all fields and committees, the state of the Komsomol activities, on the guerrilla, and the point that the war has reached.
Our recent Party history can be divided into two sections, one being the period until 2015 and the latter being the period since 2015 up to this day. Our Party has been subject to an extraordinary putschist-factionist attack and eventually a group that has proven itself to be party and war deserters has left the ranks of the Party. The necessity to approach the process in two distinct periods originates from this situation. Within this context an assessment has been done on the Right–liquidationist, Party and War Deserter band that became systemized in January 2017 and finalized its course in October 2017 and the assessment made in the 8th Broadened Meeting of the Party Central Committee has been approved by our Congress. In the following period this band has managed to commit a series of crimes as wearing away revolutionary values, attacking the party with the backing of the police and the mafia, being deserters in the field of war, stealing the weapons and ammunition of the party and handing them to the enemy. Now, it is clear that this clique takes its place in history as having committed a series of practices that serve the counter-revolution, having weakened its revolutionary veins, existing at a symbolic level in the country, having lost its ties with the problems of the revolution in the country and essentially becoming a group only existing outside of the country. In addition to the approaches and assessments of the 8th Broadened Meeting of the CC, these designations have been made and approved in our Congress.
Our Congress considers the orientation and decisions of the 8th Conference as being MLM in essence. The orientations and the assessments over the period include correct and farsighted approaches.
The main problem of the 8th Conference is the shallowness in the approach towards the reality of the Party and towards the issue of leadership. The 8th Conference undoubtedly has not been able to carry out its duty of developing the responsibility, the approach and the method to resolve the reasons behind the fact that the 7th CC had not been able to lead in that period, the fact that the CC had conflicts with the Party for a period of time and the reasons behind the fact that the CC had received the criticism of being “sectarian” in the face of these conflicts. The CC of the Party was not able to examine the criticism of being sectarian in regards to not being able to predominate the Party and predominate the process in a correct and in a scientific way. This situation has become an obstacle in creating the ground for a healthier leadership to the party, to saving the leadership from being ordinary and carrying out the responsibility of the party will.
Eventually the leadership of the 8th CC of Party continued to operate with the legacy it received from the previous leadership and to dominate the party; thus dominating the problems, performing developed leading skills and being the force for the solution have not taken place due to the superficial approaches of the 8th Conference towards the problems.
During the 8th CC of the Party the inability to dominate the party, and even elements of the CC of the Party not being able to dominate one another has after a while given birth to “left sectarianism” and in some occasions even liberalism. This has crippled the organizational line of the Party. The inner-party problems grew, the emerging reality of the Party and the corresponding emergence of right liquidationist factionalism are due to the party leadership inability to dominate the Party and its elements adequately. The dominance problem of the CC of the Party had reflected itself in the reports and subjective assessments towards the fields of activity. The greatest problem of the CC of the Party is its weakness and incapability to dominate and rule the Party which turn the leadership into something ordinary. This situation was ongoing during the aforementioned period. On the other hand, the emerging picture was one of a climate of non-confidence that emerged in the leadership and spread to the Party and at one point got on top of everything. Eventually this “ground swell” grew bigger among the Party and surfaced as a virus of NON-CONFIDENCE. This situation was acerbated by a group of party members distrusting the Party’s general political line and the following ideological fracture. This political, organizational and ideological convergence has resulted in an explosion that broke the leadership from the party, systematically embraced an opportunist-reformist and anti-MLM line and tried to use the distrust towards the party as “the main confidence” as a lever.
Undoubtedly this picture stems from the attitude of the 8th Conference that does not portray the dynamics for development and dynamics for leading in unison with a focus on the Party and leadership realities that examines these concepts. This situation that hinders the shaping of the Party in accordance with its reality, the ability of the leadership to dominate the Party and the existence of an appropriate leadership. The Party has experienced the problem of not being able to dominate the leadership and the leadership has experienced the problem of not being able to dominate the Party. Since a healthy relationship between the Party and the leadership was not maintained, a CC of the Party that has a claim to lead was not shaped. The progressive, strengthening and dynamic aspect of the contradiction between the CC of the Party and the Party was not revealed, on the contrary, a situation became dominant that was destructive and created problems. This picture dominated the successful and unsuccessful assessments towards the field of activities and the shaping and intervening abilities of the leadership.
The scenery laid out by the CC of the Party for the party leadership and the fields of activities of the party was assessed together with this wholeness and reality. In this scenery the responsibilities that the Party should take, the necessity of CC of the Party to dominate the Party in order to lead it, creation of opportunities and channels for such a dominance, an obligation for more realistic goals and orientations with a stricter mechanism that is more critical and more prone to examine were emphasized.
Within this context, an understanding of creating a leadership that acts as a whole, has more willpower in the face of the struggle of the Party and the class struggle, that is more dynamic, more homogenous in its political and ideological approach was adopted. The fact that the Party has these opportunities was seen through the general situation and the discussions that were held.
On this basis, a special focus was directed on the weak position of our Party in the class struggle, its inadequacies, its shortcomings in approaching problems with a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist methodology and its regression. Approaches towards the Problems of the Party, the Problems of the Class Struggle, the Problems of the War, the Cadre Problems, the Problems in the matter Organization, the Deviations in the Line of the Mass, Inadequacies of the General Political Line to Transform Into a Political Power, the Matter of Alliances and Unity of Actions were thoroughly discussed. These problems as a whole were discussed within the scope of the assessments of the CC of the Party, assessment of the fields of activities. Conclusions were drawn from the re-consideration of our existing organizational reality. Undoubtedly the assessment of the period was done considering the international situation, the problems experienced in the objectivity of the class struggle, the ideological attacks of the bourgeoisie and its reflections on our Party. In a multi-directional way our ideological, political and organizational picture was the main topic of this agenda. Since the upcoming orientation is to be based on this subjective and objective reality, the problem was dealt with in the broadest and multi-directional way possible.
Orientation for the upcoming period:
Our Party has identified the main problem as the organization, expansion, enhancement, empowerment of the Party and scaling up of the war. Accomplishing a Party and an organization that is combative and militant has been determined as the essential orientation.
Our Congress, has determined that even though fascism conducts its attacks of oppression, limitation, disorganization, liquidation and if possible concession in an increasing rate of intensity and depth in order to overcome its political crisis, it has not succeeded to resolve its crisis. Even though this aggression has created a regression and weakness in the revolutionary situation, the class, national, social etc. contradictions have gotten deeper and the policy of keeping the masses inactive and accepting of the current situation essentially has failed.
The level of conflict and tension between the sovereign classes has increased and due to the decrease in the total economic exploit rooting from the economic crisis, parallel to the sharp competition between, both the inner clique conflict and the conflict between alliances has deepened. The all-out attack carried out by fascism had its reflections on the revolutionary, progressive forces and in the most general meaning of the word for the masses of people. Nonetheless, this destructive and negative scenery has not been able to produce success in its policy of full surrender. By digging deeper into its grave, fascism has managed to gain time for itself. The upcoming developments seems fertile for a ground on which the revolutionary situation and consequently the activity of the class struggle will rise. The fascist dictatorship that is stuck in both internal and external politics will experience a stronger and a sharper crisis of rule.
This scenery provides a ground for new opportunities for our Party and the revolutionary movement to make progress. The all-out attack carried out by the fascist dictatorship not only develops itself by creating oppression, violence, destruction, denial, occupation and a wave of chauvinism. At the same time it survives by creating a climate of hopelessness and desperation that produces intimidation.
Again, it has created a siege that will lead to an ideological erosion in the forms of within-the-systemism, parliamentarism, living together in peace, legalism, “winning with evolution without a revolution”. Today, all the negative effects of this ideological influences and poison finds its reflections among the members of the popular forces. Our Party is in the process of building a barricade against this ideological submission that dreams “a power fantasy without a power”, that is reformist and liquidationist for a period of time. From this aspect in the ideological struggle and in creating dominance over its own reality our Party is in an advantageous position to detect its ideological weaknesses and its strengths.
Although the erosion in the proletarian revolutionary line, the regression and not having a claim should be viewed as a problem that has to be detected without any hesitations. Today approaching contradictions from the perspective of communism and from the perspective of proletarian revolutionary attitude, holding a strong grasp on the principles and developing tactical politics in accordance is being demonized. The essence of these approaches stem from the contradiction between the proletarian revolutionism and petty-bourgeois revolutionism. Petty-bourgeois revolutionary style, method, expectation, hope, formation and orientation has a rather strong political influence. This situation makes itself felt stronger as it attacks the proletarian revolutionary line.
Turning bourgeois line of revolutionism upside-down, confronting it, scattering its siege is only possible by the strengthening and self-realization of the Communist party in theoretical, organizational, political and intellectual level. Whatever the conditions are, proletarian revolutionism must not forget the historical role of the working class and the believe that the working class will accomplish the New Democratic Revolution and continue it. Every greying in this field will end up shaking like a leaf against the wind and even to drying out.
The existence of the Communist Party is the provision of proletarian revolutionism. The ideological orientation of our Party will be the development and strengthening of proletarian revolutionism that is close to the masses, comprehends the historical role of the working class, and grasps the spirit of time. The revolutionism that is needed is the one that can show the will to resolve the emerging contradictions, that is equipped against the bourgeois type revolutionism of all sorts and one that can ideologically convict them, that has a grasp on the facts, occasions and developments and that possesses the strength to analyse them to come up with solutions. In this sense our Party will adopt an orientation that exposes the contradiction between the proletarian revolutionism and petty-bourgeois revolutionism and strengthens its line from this point onwards.
Undoubtedly the creation of solid party organizations is only possible by having a level of militancy that fits a fighting party. Our Party will adopt a line that takes the consolidation within the class struggle and a strict education as essentials in order to solidify its organization, expand its organization and turn it into a closed-chamber system for the enemy.
Another important point is the matter of WAR. This will be one of the most important pillars of our orientation. This period in which the revolutionary situation shows tendencies of increase, a fighting Party and a line that is focused on the Guerrilla Warfare and that intervenes in the contradictions with the critical power of arms is crucially important. We have a structure of a society that awaits a solution by force. War is for the revolution, it is required for the needs of the revolution and it is the only way for the revolution to take place. This comprehension and approach brings about a correct positioning against every conflict. This conditioned obligation of our Party for revolution and communism will bring the war to adopt the most effective, the most destructive and the most constructive character.
Our Party has found its shape for the last 47 years with this consciousness and orientation and has built a ceaseless line of war. The Guerrilla Struggle which is the main artery of our revolution is conducted by the People’s Army led by our Party. In the current conditions the enemy has adopted a serious war of destruction against the Kurdish National guerrilla movement and against our Party. Our Party has been resisting against this war of destruction by paying a tremendous price. Our Party will not take a step back from its insistence to seize the power piece by piece through Red Political Powers and through the People’s War Strategy of our revolution. And, it will continue to resist against all desperation, hopelessness, and attempts of liquidation and ideological surrender. At the expense of paying a great price in this period, the process will be met with the approach of tactical attacks in the strategical defence position. Our Party will meticulously implement the self-preservation rule which is the fundamental law of the Guerrilla Warfare but it will adopt the approach of wearing down the enemy through tactical attacks for the sake of self-preservations and expansion.
The shaping in accordance with the war policy of our party will be essential for all its activities. All activities and orientations will be dealt in order to feed and enhance the war. Undoubtedly the expansion of People’s War means the implementation of the most creative and rich revolutionary line and politics, organization and mobilization of large masses on this base in all fields that we are at. At the same time, this means the active use of means of struggle that are based on force and their creative application against contradictions.
Waging war while getting organized, getting organized while waging war. Fighting while organizing, organizing while fighting. As organizing large masses will re-produce the war, the line of war based on the guerrilla struggle will also mean that all organizations will have to re-produce themselves. This is a reality that is created by our social structure. The critical power of weapons under the leadership and command of our Party will not only scatter the chains in the minds of the oppressed masses of people, but it will also serve to increase their ambition to organize and struggle, as comrade Mao states, “it will rid us of all our dirt and dust”.
In this historical juncture, under the conditions that liquidationism and reformism is swarming the place, we are obliged to raise the guerrilla warfare, to create a combative organization and to pass the threshold with this willpower in order to lead and establish a marching column which is stronger and more effective for the dream of communism. Our Party comprehends this obligation and it will accelerate its struggle by convincing masses that are close to us or far away by organizing to spread this understanding and by its perspective for the political power.
Comrades, Our People, Our Friends;
Our Congress undoubtedly created its willpower by adhering to its confidence in its historical responsibility, to its belief in the people, to its loyalty to its comrades, to the promises made to our martyrs, to the rage and venom of the families of our martyrs, to its responsibility to friendly forces, to the solidarity spirit of its friend and sister organizations, to the parties in the international level and to the scientific approach that leads our way, sheds light to our path which is the sharp blade of the international proletariat, of the path of Marx-Engels-Lenin-Stalin-Mao.
Our Congress has adopted the scientific programmatic standpoints that guides our Party for the last 47 years and that were established by the leader Ibrahim KAYPAKKAYA with a better comprehension.
The determination of the 25 People’s Fighters who have been immortalized in arms, who chanted out the slogans of the Party and declared loyalty to its line in the last 4 year long period has given the spirit to our Congress at a time that non-confidence towards our party was organized in a planned fashion, at a time the blunt knife of the bourgeois line was held against the throat of our Party, at a time theories of desertion and hopelessness swarmed the place against the guerrilla struggle. Every single one of our 25 party militants, the fighters of our People’s Army have sacrificed their lives with the dream of communism and their loyalty to the Party line. They who wrote the name of the hope with blood, at this point of history, have turned every bullet that was fired against the enemy as an ideological force against the desertion and defeatism. Our Party has given hundreds of martyrs to the glorious cause of communism in the past 47 years. The pain of the Families of the Martyrs who toiled for the raising, development and character of our comrades who have been immortalized in this cause, those who saw their causes as their own is embodied as rage and determination in our Party. Our Congress declares that it promises to embrace the legacy of our comrades and that the essence and the root of our Party is their dream, to all the families of the martyrs. Let our families have no doubt: their children will live in the spirit of our Party and our comrades and will continue to live.
Our Congress greets our prisoners who honoured the name, the line, the war and the militancy of our Party in the dungeons of the enemy with their resistance and have turned them into the front-most trenches, with communist feelings and revolutionary passion. They are the ones who give meaning to the price demanding character of the struggle by resisting and embracing the fight without any hesitation to pay the greatest of prices. The lines of our prisoner comrades that produce and resist for communism and for the class struggle in the hardest of conditions feeds the blood and souls of our comrades and the Party. Let the Congress of our Party be a gift to all our prisoner organizations and to all its elements.
Our Congress declares with our infinite belief in communism and our loyalty to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, to the representatives of the international proletariat in various countries and to the fellow communist parties that the TKP/ML, the representative of the international proletariat in Turkey is now stronger and more determined in struggle than ever with its 1st Congress. The Communist Movement of the World has significant and serious problems. Revisionist, opportunist, liquidationist and reformist attacks towards MLM are now more furious and reckless than ever. Against those who drop the red flag in the face of regressions from socialism, and those who give in to the anti-MLM currents instead of leaning on to Maoism, we once again wave the red flag stronger with the struggle for New Democratic Revolution, Socialism and Communism. We have the determination to build a common marching column that is equipped with proletarian internationalism and MLM against the attacks developing on a international scale. The worldwide crisis of the imperialist-capitalist system will make the ground for People’s War stronger in semi-feudal, semi-colonial countries and will offer these centres of storm of revolution the opportunity to rush forward. Today in India, in Peru, in Philippines and in various other semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries in a larger or a smaller scale exists the fire of People’s War. We might be at a state of a spark, but we are students of a master who said, “a single spark can start a prairie fire”. We carry our claim to start a prairie fire with our historical consciousness and obligation. In order for our single spark to spread we will put all our effort, energy and focus. Glory to the international proletarian movements, organizations and fellow parties who walk on the enlightened path of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
To the Toiling People of Turkey of the Turkish, Kurdish and Various Other Nations;
Our Congress declares its main slogan as “On the Path of the 1st Congress; Hold on to Proletarian Revolutionism, Challenge Liquidationism, Raise the Guerrilla Warfare”. This slogan is the synthesis of the orientation of our Congress. We will unite around this slogan and prepare for “the glorious years of struggle to come”. Our Congress has determined a main orientation that focuses on enhancing and developing the party and raising the war. This orientation is a goal to meet the developing revolutionary situation. It is aimed for all our party members, militants, sympathizers and the public whose attention is on us to be shaped in the direction of this orientation. It is aimed for our party organizations to shape their organization in this direction, for our militants to take a step forward, for our sympathizers to improve their level of organization, for the ones who are not organized but their hearts beat with our Party to rapidly get organized and join the boundless sea of the class struggle in the ranks of our Party. In order to reach our goals we invite everyone to listen to this call of ours, to partake in our voice, to be comrades walking with us.
NOW IT IS THE TIME TO TAKE A STEP FORWARD!
It is the time for the one who sits to stand up, for the one who is standing to walk, for the one who walks to run.
It is the time for all those who pin their hopes on the goals of New Democratic Revolution, Socialism and Communism to step forward.
It is the time to raise the Guerrilla Struggle, enhance and embrace the People’s War.
It is the time to unite around the Party that is the command centre of these goals.
It is the time to raise the class struggle, challenge fascism, not to leave any space for within-the-systemism and to make our Party a political force of life.
Our Party is predestined to organize and achieve these goals. It is the time for all party members, militants and sympathizers to use their energies full time. The communists hold the claim to meet this period with their belief in revolution and organize the revolution. The greatest achievement of our Congress is the certain and determined realization of this will.
This will that is portrayed by our Congress promises a determination in the struggle for obtaining freedom in the largest sense, with the goal of New Democratic Revolution to the proletariat of Turkey, to the oppressed strata of peasantry, to the urban petty-bourgeoisie, to the Kurdish and other oppressed nations, to oppressed belief, to the oppressed genders of women and LGBTI, to the popular youth and to all democratic forces. Let our promise to imperialism, fascism, feudalism and all sorts of reactionaries be that they will definitely come to an end and that our Party will never stop and give in, and continue the struggle for this cause with arms at hands.
– Glory to our 1st Congress!
– We Will Drown Fascism in the Blood That It Shed!
– We Will Scatter the Fascist Blockade With the Organized Struggle of the People!
– Glory to the Liberation Struggle of the Kurdish Nation!
– Organize and Struggle against the Imperialism and All Its Footmen!
– Revolution is an Obligation, People’s War is Freedom!
– Revolutionary Struggle is Legitimate, Revolt is a Right!
– Learn through War, Move Forward through Organization, Join Together in the Line of the 1st Congress!
– On the 70th Birthday of Comrade Kaypakkaya, to the Power in the Red Route of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!
– Scatter the Fascist Blockade, Move Forward with the People’s War!
– We Will Destroy the Comprador Boss-Lord State, We Will Establish the Democratic People’s Power!
– Long Live the Proletarian Internationalism!
– Glory to the Victorious Path of the People’s War!
– Glory to Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!
– Glory to our Party TKP/ML, Glory to our Popular Army TIKKO and Glory to our Youth Organization TMLGB!
COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY/MARXIST LENINIST – CENTRAL COMMITTTE POLITICAL BUREAU
TKP/ML- CC PB
MAY 2019