Contribution to the 15^th International Communist Seminar
"Present and past experiences in the international communist movement".
Brussels, 5- 7 May 2006
www.icsbrussels.org , ics[at]icsbrussels.org

On Our Experiences in the Working Class: The Working Class in Turkey and the Patriotic Front

Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)

Dear Comrades,

First of all, I want to thank to the comrades representing the Workers’ Party of Belgium for enabling us to share our experiences during these annual meetings, which are organized regularly. Not just for the sake of formality, but since I think that sharing our experiences has a special meaning in the current era. The international communist movement is facing new experiences and we really need to learn from each other.

In the case of our experiences in the working class, that need becomes much greater. I think that, though the problems we are dealing with are much different regarding their forms, the communists of all countries are facing the same essential challenge: How to re-strengthen our ties with the working class, in a period of imperialist aggression and reaction?

We have no ready prescriptions. Actually, ready prescriptions would not be much helpful in the current era. I think, all of us are making some experiments. We are experiencing special difficulties. For instance, what kinds of relations should we establish with the trade-unions, most of which have turned into bourgeois organizations? Should we give priority to our work among the workers that are organized in the trade-unions, or to our work among the unorganized workers, which form a much greater part of the working class in most countries? Should we organize workers under existing trade-unions or do we have to develop new forms of organization?

Of course, the answers will depend on the concrete conditions of each country and even each branch of industry or business. I want to inform you about our recent attempts in Turkey.

However, before doing so, I want to talk about some of our theoretical points of departure, even though they do not form a prescription.

Since 1845, the primary target of communists is to bring the working class into political struggle, or, more concretely, into the struggle for political power, even though we are accused of neglecting the everyday and urgent problems of the working class.

Why is the struggle for political power so critical for us?

In the German Ideology, Marx says the following:

"The separate individuals form a class only insofar as they have to carry on a common battle against another class; otherwise they are on hostile terms with each other as competitors."

Furthermore, as emphasized by Marx, the development of communist consciousness among the working class has its limitations under capitalism, which indicates the need of a revolution for a real change:

"Both for the production on a mass scale of this communist consciousness, and for the success of the cause itself, the alteration of men on a mass scale is, necessary, an alteration which can only take place in a practical movement, a revolution; this revolution is necessary, therefore, not only because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but also because the class overthrowing it can only in a revolution succeed in ridding itself of all the muck of ages and become fitted to found society anew."

How will the working class make a political revolution? Of course, this is a very comprehensive question, and one of the main questions of Marxism-Leninism. However, the following sentences from the German Ideology indicate a direction:

"For each new class which puts itself in the place of one ruling before it, is compelled, merely in order to carry through its aim, to represent its interest as the common interest of all the members of society, that is, expressed in ideal form: it has to give its ideas the form of universality, and represent them as the only rational, universally valid ones. The class making a revolution appears from the very start, if only because it is opposed to a class, not as a class but as the representative of the whole of society; it appears as the whole mass of society confronting the one ruling class."

In the Communist Manifesto as well, Marx formulates the "conquest of political power" as an immediate aim of the communists:

"The immediate aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat."

On the other hand, again in the Manifesto, Marx describes the preconditions of a revolution as follows:

"Since the proletariat must first of all acquire political supremacy, must rise to be the leading class of the nation, must constitute itself the nation, it is so far, itself national, though not in the bourgeois sense of the word."

In other words, just like Lenin, Marx gave priority to the political struggle of the working class over its economic-unionist struggle.

In fact, during almost his whole life, Marx tried to win the working class and its organizations to the struggle for political power. At the First International, he tried to convince the British trade-union leaders while struggling against the anarchists who were hostile against the target of political power.

And Lenin’s theory of organization aims at making the working class a class that is able to conquest the political power.

Our concrete experiences as well, show that its narrow interests divide the working class and distance it from the other sections of the society. For instance, the workers of a public enterprise struggling against its privatization are not able to obtain the support of the workers of other sectors and even other public enterprises, unless they give a political character to their struggle. That is much more apparent in the current era, during which most of the trade unions have lost power and transformed into bourgeois institutions. At least in my country, before 1980, the working class was able to obtain some gains thanks to the struggle of trade unions. However, after the military coup of 1980 and after the dissolution of socialism in many countries, the trade unions not only lost membership and influence, but also most of the top managers of those organizations have become agents of the ruling class.

Today, trade union managers are among the most discredited persons in Turkey. The workers distrust managers of trade unions, since, in many cases, the workers that are trying to organize themselves under trade unions are reported to the bosses by these managers. The European Trade Union Confederation as well, contributes to the transformation of trade unions in Turkey. Of course, there are many communist, revolutionary or well-intentioned activists in the trade unions. However, changing the structure of trade unions through an inner struggle is practically impossible. Besides, less then 10 percent of the workers are members of the trade unions, and most of them are obligatory members.

As a result, in my country, it is much easier to convince workers to join our party in comparison with convincing them to join a trade union.

So, what to do? Can we see that situation as an opportunity? May we prefer to organize workers only under our party?

Of course, one of our main aims is to have more workers in our party. In fact, most of our members are those who have to sell their labor force in order to live.

However, that will not suffice to create a "working class movement". And our real need is the formation of a nationwide political movement, which will give workers an identity of class membership and make them able to lead other oppressed sections of the society.

What should be the main characteristics of a nationwide political working class movement?

First, the organizational form of such a movement will be of secondary importance. More concretely, such a movement may express itself in and through very different organizational forms. The critical point is the struggle, rather than its form.

Secondly, nationwide problems should form the basis, rather than narrow economic interests of the working class. The targets of the struggle have to be able to make the working class to lead other sections of the society.

Thirdly, unemployed people, women, young people, engineers, physicians, peasants and intellectuals should be able to join that movement, so that ties between the working class and other sections of the society may be established and strengthened.

Fourthly, though focusing on the actual problems of the country, that movement has to have an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist direction. That is not to say that this movement should see the socialist revolution as the most urgent target. Nevertheless, the movement must not distance us from the target of a socialist revolution, but it should bring us closer to that target.

Of course, in each country, such movements will focus on the concrete problems of that country and on the concrete needs of revolutionary struggle.

In Turkey, a country which is heavily dependent on imperialist countries both politically and economically, which is seen as a source of cheap labor force and cheap soldiers, which is tried to be engaged in the aggression plans of the United States and which is carrying the heavy burdens of the EU accession process, almost all of our problems are related to imperialist dependence. Thus, in our country, the struggle against imperialism is an indispensable element of our struggle for a socialist revolution.

Last year, under the leadership of our party, the patriotic initiatives that had been established by workers, students, working women, health workers, engineers, retired army officials etc. in many provinces of Turkey founded the "Patriotic Front". The representatives of the patriotic initiatives met on February 27, 2005, and announced the foundation of the Front. And just two months later, on the May Day, patriots from all over the country met in Istanbul under the banner of the Patriotic Front, instead of participating the nearby meeting organized by trade union managers. This year, the Patriotic Front is going to (that contribution is written on 16 April, 2005) organize a May Day celebration in a distinct square, namely the Kartal Square, which is a city center surrounded by workers’ neighborhoods and factories.

The Patriotic Front is formed by initiatives established by people from very different branches of industry and business, localities and sections of society. For instance, the textile workers of a district, metal workers of a region of Istanbul, working women of a province, physicians, teachers, intellectuals etc. are able to establish initiatives.

In the short period since the foundation of the Patriotic Front, we have seen that it is a very useful mean especially concerning our organizational work among workers. In fact, the most active and fastest growing initiatives of the Patriotic Front are the initiatives of workers’ and working women. The workers’ initiatives from all over Turkey met in Ankara on April 2. Thousands of workers came together at the workers’ gathering, which was named as "Working Class Is Standing Up". Besides, the workers’ initiatives distribute a daily journal of the Patriotic Front every day in their workplaces and neighborhoods. So, they are able to discuss all current problems of our country from the viewpoint of the working class.

This is a relatively new experience for us and for the working class of Turkey. It is early to formulate conclusive judgments. However, we are able to draw some conclusions from our experience.

1) It is not more difficult to bring workers together and to get them into struggle on the basis of main nationwide problems, in comparison with organizing an economic struggle in a factory.

2) The political struggle does not mean putting the economic problems of workers aside; on the contrary, it enriches and strengthens the economic struggle as well. The workers’ initiatives are struggling against individual capitalists too, but without forgetting their long-term targets.

3) Today, the most important need of the working class is to re-acquire a solid class identity. And the political struggle provides important means concerning the development of the culture of struggle, which is needed especially by young workers.

4) The Patriotic Front allows uniting people from many different sections of the society in a movement of which working class character gradually becomes stronger. The working class character of a movement can only be strengthened through making workers the leading and dynamic elements of the struggle, and that is the main aim of the Patriotic Front.

5) As the Turkish and Kurdish workers and laborers are facing a real danger of division due to the interventions of imperialist and nationalist forces, the Patriotic Front provides the opportunity of uniting them through a common struggle against imperialism. We are sure that the only way of uniting workers is organizing their common struggle.

6) The Patriotic Front contributes to the development of working class internationalism as well. During the last 14 months, representatives of communist and progressive parties and organizations from many different countries participated in the central activities of the Patriotic Front. Our solidarity with the Iraqi resistance, our common struggle against the EU with the communist and progressive forces of EU member and candidate countries, our efforts aimed at forming a regional cooperation against the aggression plans of the US and our ties with the communist and revolutionary forces of Latin America strengthen the internationalism of the workers.

Of course, we are just at the beginning. In the following years, we will be able to share more concrete experiences. Not only our successes, but also our failures will teach us.

The only definite point is the following: The working class needs to carry out a political struggle, and the politics needs the participation of the working class.

Thank you.

Erkin Özalp

Member of the Central Committee