Diary of new class struggles in Greece

“We are in a state of war” declared pompously the Greek Prime Minister(and President of the “Socialist International”) George Papandreou on March 3, announcing a second wave of draconian measures against the working people and pensioners, demanded by the European Union, the European Central Bank and the  IMF “advisers” supervising the Greek economy. But the working class defies the bellicose rhetoric of the head of the PASOK government and the instructions of the EU by declaring its own state of class war.
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After at least a decade and a half of stagnation, the working class movement of Turkey is making a great stride forward, thanks to the militant action of the workers of a now privatised former state economic enterprise, Tekel, the state monopoly of tobacco and alcoholic beverages. The resolute and tenacious fight put up by the 12,000 Tekel workers and their families has made an electrifying impact on major sections of the working class. Despite the dogged resistance of the top bureaucracy of the Türk-İş confederation, the biggest of Turkey, to which the Tekel workers’ union is affiliated, the pressure for a general strike is mounting. Given the immense social and political contradictions Turkey has been subject to within the last few years, this new awakening of the proletariat adds still another tension to a society already torn apart by strife and dissension, but is susceptible to change the whole chemistry of the country and to create the possibility of a progressive resolution to the already existing problems.
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The mass upheaval in Teheran and the clashes of the popular mobilizations in support of the Presidential candidate Moussavi with the police and the Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) continue following the Presidential elections, where Ahmadinejad was officially declared as the victor. Until this moment (17/6/09) 8 protestors were killed by the Pasdaran, including 3 young students in the Dormitory of the University, cradle of the anti-theocratic opposition.

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The artists and workers who have occupied on January 30th the National Opera House-Ethniki Lyriki Skini (ELS) and renamed it into Eksegermeni Laiki Skini (ELS)- Popular  Opera in Rebellion decided to end the occupation last Saturday February 7th .  But they left the area that they had liberated not defeated; by their own decision they will continue the struggle in other places the next period. They departed from the Opera with a triumphant march in the streets of Athens to celebrate their success to attract for a week thousands of people in a unique experience in recent Greek history of unification of art and revolution, despite the constant threats of the bosses and of the capitalist State, despite the conspiracy of silence of all the mass media.

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Brilliant, full of imagination, events take place in the National Opera House in Athens occupied, or rather liberated by the artists from January the 30th.  The general assembly discuss everyday and decide a program of political and artistic actions: performances, group improvisations, plays, concerts of classical, modern, contemporary, jazz and rock music, martial arts courses(as the danger of a riot police invasion is always present), film showing, debates and political meetings, dances in the street.

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Statement of the Initiative for the Revolutionary Workers’ Party (DİP)

2/2/2009

The Initiative for the Revolutionary Workers’ Party considers fully warranted the response by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan to the attitude of Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, and David Ignatius, US journalist and moderator of the panel discussion. It was correct to criticise sharply Peres’ manner of speaking, to respond in kind to the moderator, who kept patting the prime minister of a foreign country on the shoulder, displaying the arrogance of a person close to the establishment circles of an imperialist country, to remind him of the unfair allotment of time to the different speakers, thereby privileging Peres, and in the end to abandon the panel. Those who criticise Erdoğan for using the bullying style he resorts to back home are thereby promoting the idea that he should have acted meekly when confronted with such effrontery from imperialists and Zionists. They have thus also been admitted that they cannot defend the idea of equality among nations even for their own people, let alone for those nations whom they oppress. Erdoğan’s behaviour is so abominable domestically because he unjustly attacks oppressed people. It is exactly for the symmetric reason why his behaviour at Davos is to be commended. There is no basis for comparing the two, as Erdoğan is the oppressor in the domestic cases while he represents the underdog in the Davos case. Erdoğan has displayed a more honourable attitude vis-à-vis the representatives of imperialism and Zionism than his detractors.

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Wither the revolt?

An important political rally and debate took place on January 31st in the Sporting Stadium, in Athens, Greece. More than 2000 left militants attended coming from all over Greece to discuss on the crisis, the December revolt and its prospects.

It was called by 10 organizations of the far left regrouped in Greece mainly in two front formations: MERA( Front of the Radical Left including the New Left Current/NAR that had split from the CP in 1989,  EEK, the Greek Section of the CRFI, EKKE, a small Maoist group, and independent leftists) and ENANTIA(United Anti-Capitalist Left including the SEK/SWP- the co-thinkers of the British Cliffite SWP- two Althusserian groups, the Greek co-thinkers of the French LCR, and some independents).

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The EEK (Revolutionary Workers’ Party) of Greece and the DİP (the Initiative for the Revolutionary Workers’ Party) of Turkey, both sections of the CRFI in their respective countries, note with disgust the outrageous statement by the Turkish actor Atilla Olgaç concerning his deeds during the Turkish military intervention in Cyprus in 1974. During this statement, made during a TV show to millions of incredulous spectators, the actor confessed to shooting on the forehead  and killing a 19-year old Cypriot prisoner of war whose hands were tied after the latter spat at him and his superior. He went on to say that he killed nine other Cypriots, not elaborating on the details of these cases. Having defended his remarks to Turkish papers during interviews the next day, he then made a turnabout to retract his confession, claiming that he had mixed up the truth with the events he had imagined for a script he was writing. The question of whether the retraction was made under the pressure of Turkish authorities or as a result of the actor’s own embarrasment should not overshadow the immense significance of his previous confession.
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A new explosive element entered the situation, already destabilized both economically and politically in Greece, particularly after the December revolt: the peasants, who in their vast majority in Greece are small proprietors of land, (owing about 42 acres each peasant family), have rebelled and paralyzed all traffic throughout the country by their road blocks. All the main routes from North to South and from East to West, have been blocked by thousands of tractors. The borders with neighbor countries have blocked too. The peasants of Serres have blocked the border with Bulgaria, the peasants of Kilkis the border with the former Yugoslav Macedonia, the peasants of Evros the land, borders with Turkey.
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More than 60 class struggle trade unions, very active during the Greek revolt after the assassination of young Alexis last December, mobilized today, January 22, 2009 about 10.000 workers in Athens in a combative demonstration of solidarity to the Bulgarian immigrant worker and militant trade unionist Kostandina Kuneva who was savagely attacked with sulfuric acid by a death squad on December 22.

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