March 1, 2023
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST LEAGUE:
WE SHARE THE PAIN OF THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES DUE TO THE EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY, ROJAVA AND NORTHERN SYRIA!
In the early morning hours of February 6, at 04:17, an earthquake occurred in Pazarcık/Maraş with a magnitude of 7.7, followed immediately by another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 in Elbistan/Maraş at 13:24. With these earthquakes, a great disaster and destruction occurred in Antakya, Osmaniye, Antep, Urfa, Amed, Malatya, Kilis, Adıyaman, Adana, Rojava and the north of Syria.
In addition to the earthquake disaster and its extent of destruction, information was spread that due to the winter season, the cold weather conditions in the region negatively affect the poor people, thousands of people lost their lives, many are still under rubble and tens of thousands of them were injured. However, considering those who were left under the rubble, it becomes clear that we are talking about tens of thousands of victims, hundreds of thousands of injured and a great destruction.
The fascist character and the hostile attitude of the Turkish state towards the people, which organizes its budget according to the war policy and the interests of the bosses, was clearly seen after the earthquake. The state of emergency (OHAL) declared after the earthquake has become a weapon, an instrument of the state against the people, trying to cover up the extent of the destruction. The embargo on journalists and revolutionary and progressive circles that try to convey the truth to the public and the practices of monopolizing the public’s access to aid are the first measures taken. This is also shown by the contradictory statements of the government and state officials; The Turkish state is insensitive to people of Turkish, Kurdish, Arab and other national origins. It has made no preparations for an earthquake and yet the state stops any attempts to help on the grounds that this would weaken state power. The state does not quickly put its facilities at the service of the people, it prevents solidarity initiatives by the people, pretends that tens of thousands of people are not under the rubble, and Tayyip Erdoğan himself makes statements such as ” we are getting relieved day by day.” While people are dying under the rubble and dying under the cold and hunger, it is promised that the cities that have been destroyed will be rebuilt. Already on the second day, profit calculations for the reconstruction of the cities destroyed by the earthquake were openly expressed by the representatives of the comprador bourgeoisie.
The earthquake is, of course, a natural disaster, but, it is certainly not natural that it causes such severe destruction, this destruction is a product of the exploitation system of the greedy ruling classes who are completely dependent on imperialism. The policies of building and urbanizing, plundering nature, exploiting people, and focusing on making more profit to make more profit, have led to great disasters for humanity to this day. The only thing that will best protect and safeguard human beings and all living beings is the revolutionary line aimed at abolishing the system of exploitation and private property in order to build the socialist system, communism.
It has been shown how weak and fragile the economic system and infrastructure of the Turkish ruling classes and state are with their dependence on imperialism. The fascist state allocates big budgets for the attacks on the people, for the hostility towards the Kurdish nation and the oppressed peoples, for the repressive mechanisms of the state and for a defense system worthy of NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization ). With this structure, it has not shied away from feeding the masses with chauvinism, making propaganda of the “great state”, “great leader”, “world state”. The earthquake, on the contrary, has shown that the greatness of the state authority and its authority is actually only a “paper tiger”. All its weaknesses have been exposed. More importantly, it has shown that the state has nothing to give to the interests of the people, is incapable of making any investments, and is incapable of making any provisions in this regard. It works like a ruthless cogwheel that will exploit the people even more, bring them into even more poverty and drown them in even more blood and tears.
Tayip Erdogan, who is currently in the government of the Turkish state, and the fascist alliance AKP-MHP, taking into account the planned election process that will take place this year, calculated to further tighten the pressure mechanism in order to maintain the balance of power in their favor. Now the people’s anger and reaction, already caused by the economic and social collapse, has become even greater with the earthquake. For them, this means a worsening of the management crisis. To deal with this management crisis, it will strengthen the fascist repression mechanism even more. It will attack people more, restrict political freedoms even more, and do its best to impose the economic burden of the earthquake on the people.
The disaster of the earthquake showed once again how much the people need organizing and revolution. As always, the greatest victims of disasters are the people. The people are in great pain and suffering. They are subjected to severe massacres and are driven into even more hunger and poverty. This situation is presented to the public as “fate.” However, the destiny of the people lies in the struggle for liberation. Of course, the people must acquire a consciousness, an organization and a political program that will determine their own destiny. Only in this way is salvation possible. Even stronger organization and more conscious action are essential for the liberation of the people.
The earthquake disaster and its aftermath revealed some of the necessities of the Turkish revolution. The revolution is urgently needed. But even more important is the question of what will be the path of the revolution and what will be the organized path of the people. The only and true way to eliminate this system, which is rotten and only a paper tiger, is the PEOPLE’S WAR. A revolutionary struggle not based on arms and violence will not reveal the power and authority of the masses. In order to eliminate the helplessness of the people and to change the situation of waiting for a savior and being condemned to wait, they must organize and fight on the way of the people’s war under the leadership of the TKP/ML. The seizure of power, which will be fought bit by bit through the People’s Democratic Revolution until the takeover of all power, will mean the complete and final liberation of the people.
We, as International Communist League (ICL) share the pain of the people of all nationalities who lost their lives in the earthquakes in Turkey, Kurdistan and Syria, and organize the solidarity of the people to heal the wounds of tens of thousands of families who are struggling with poverty and misery, and think that the authority of the people should be built now instead of the authority of the state.
We call upon all progressive, revolutionary, democratic, anti-imperialist sections to act with internationalist spirit and to strengthen the solidarity and struggle of the oppressed!
The International Communist League stands by the side of the oppressed Turkish, Kurdish, Arab and different nationalities of the peoples who were victims of the earthquake.
08 February 2023
International Communist League