STATEMENT OF THE INIATIVE FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY WORKER’S PARTY (DIP)
Greece is in revolt!
Solidarity with the fraternal Greek people in revolt!
Since the murder of a fifteen-year-old youth in Greece on Saturday the 6th of December, the masses have erupted, protesting day and night against the Greek government. This is a revolt in the strict sense of the term! Greece has not seen such a massive revolt since the insurrection of 1944 under Nazi occupation and the Polytechnic revolt of 1973 under the military junta in power between 1967 and 1974.
Youth between the ages of 11 to 18, from middle and high schools, as well as university students, are leading the protests. In countless Greek cities, these youth attack the police stations and schools, hurtling stones, tomatoes and eggs. As of Thursday evening, the 11th of December, 60 schools in Athens and 120 schools all over Greece are under occupation. Also, Athens University Faculty of Law, the Polytechnic, Athens University of Economics and other universities and faculties are under the occupation of students. The student general assembly holds daily meetings and takes decisions on how to continue the revolt. Through this mass movement of revolt, the youth are expressing nothing other than their rage and fury against the treatment they have received over the years from the police and especially the Riot Squad (MAT). These youth have experienced the death of their friend as if it were an assault on their own body. From this point of view, the events causing the Greek revolt are reminiscent of the youth revolt that started in the banlieus of Paris two years ago, spreading out to the whole country and lasting for days.
But beyond this, Greek youth are protesting against the lack of a future to which they have been condemned for years. In Greece, a member of the European Union, both “left”- and right-wing governments of the capitalists have for years waged an assault against the working-class and laborers, resulting in deep resentment within the ranks of the workers and youth. The general strike called on Wednesday, December 10th, was the 10th general strike during the six years of the New Democratic Party government! Behind this protest, then, lies a long-standing class struggle, exacerbated by the measures the government is taking in the face of the present economic crisis.
Given all this, this revolt in Greece should be regarded as the first large-scale protest movement of the new era ushered in worldwide by the deep economic crisis of capitalism.
One police killing leads all of Greece to rise in rebellion. And Turkey?
The people of Greece have every right to protest. Everyone in Turkey with a minimal sense of decency should ask themselves the following question: the Greek police (apart from fatal aggressions directed against foreign immigrants) have not killed any youth since 1994. As for Turkey, the killing of youth by the police occurs almost at the pace of once a month. In 2008 alone, a policeman in Bahçelievler killed Feyzullah with a swift kick to his chest, Baran was shot in the head in Izmir while driving his car, Ahmet, a shepherd in Van, was killed during a protest, Cağdaş was killed in Antalya when he did not obey the order to “stop,” as well as many, many others. Why don’t we show any reaction? We see the bloody ferociousness of the Greek police. Don’t we see what the Turkish police do?
Or is there something more ghastly? Maybe we are afraid that if we protest for someone who has been killed, we might be killed as well? The youth of Greece throw Molotov cocktails, burn cars and shops, and the police in return settle for spraying pepper gas (apart from the incident at the funeral). And this under an oppressive right-wing government! A right-wing government established to protect property, when accused of not managing the situation, has claimed they prefer to protect lives before property. Of course, they are afraid of the political consequences of more lives lost, but at least they are afraid! That should remind us of the events that occurred in Diyarbakır two years ago. The long-oppressed Kurdish youth and children that attacked offices and shops were hunted down one by one by the police. And Prime Minister Erdoğan provoked the police with his “sorry but no one will be spared”! A prime minister talking about fifteen-year-olds! Why is it that when something like this involves a neighboring country, it is “the people’s reaction”, but when it involves our own it is “terrorism”?
Who is using Greek youth as pawns?
Recently politicians in Turkey have made a big fuss of the fact that Kurdish youth, long oppressed, have lately been at the forefront of mass protests. Many claimed, with the prime minister at their head, that “children” were being “used”. Even those claiming to defend human rights came forward to state that this situation goes against the rights of the child. The governor of the province of Adana threatened the families whose children participated in these events with the confiscation of their state subsidized health care cards. If the Greek government enforced such a measure, one suspects, the revolt would have ended in the blink of an eye! And why is it that for the Greek youth (for children as young as 11) this idea crosses nobody’s mind? The answer to this is obvious: if Greek police can shoot and kill a youth of fifteen, then the days and nights of struggle of these youth is nothing but political self-defense! If one is old enough to get killed by police bullets, then one is mature enough to embark in political protest! Who can blame Kurdish youth? Who could deny that three years ago a twelve year old Kurdish youth, Uğur Kaymaz, was killed by the thirteen bullets shot into his young body by the Special Forces?
The Greek people now more than ever are our brothers and sisters!
The working-class and youth struggle of the people of Greece is our struggle as well! A victory obtained there will be a victory for us, too! Already the police have been exposed as cold-blooded killers and the people in their hearts and minds are becoming aware that this is a hideous crime. Here in Turkey, as well, the government will have to watch out for their actions. Tomorrow, if the police should kill one more person, the government will have to worry about the consequences. Such is the nature of things: the fight of one people teaches other peoples. This time we are learning from our neighbors.
The struggle of the people of Greece, at the same time, has made it obvious that the Greeks are not our enemies. The events show this clearly: the governments that murder their youth are on the same side of the barricade and the peoples who suffer the pain are on the other side of that barricade!
As the Initiative for the Revolutionary Worker’s Party, we are in solidarity with the Greek working-class and youth in their righteous struggle. We salute the people of Greece, who have taken the fight to levels not yet attained by us in Turkey recently, and we wish them success.
The Initiative for the Revolutionary Worker’s Party also salutes the EEK (the Revolutionary Worker’s Party), our fraternal party In Greece, and its members, who have embraced wholesale the fight going on.
Long live the brotherhood of the peoples of Turkey and Greece!
End police killings in both countries!
Bring to justice all those responsible for state killings!
Hold governments accountable for police brutality!
Long live proletarian internationalism!
The Initiative for the Revolutionary Worker’s Party (DİP)
Friday, 12 December 2008
