Digel Tekstil workers who have been in resistance for over 1 year, Elsa Tekstil workers who resisted their dismissal and brought the boss to his knees, subcontracted workers in Izmir Metropolitan Municipality who won their rights thanks to their resistance and Ankara Algida Depot workers who raised their voices with their struggle also participated in TKP's mass meeting.<\/p>\n
The short history of the Communist Party of Turkey was told through skits, folk dances, anthems and songs performed by the TKP Choir and G\u00fclcan Altan.<\/p>\n
TKP GENERAL SECRETARY OKUYAN: AKP IS COUNTER-REVOLUTION<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking at the event, TKP Secretary General Kemal Okuyan stated that they watched a short history of TKP and said \u201cTKP suffered a great betrayal. After that betrayal, its resurrection required a very difficult struggle within the left in Turkey.\u201d.<\/p>\n After the 1980 coup, Okuyan emphasized that the struggle against liberalism was vital and said, \u201cIf the trend called liberalism did not capture the left in Turkey in the 80s and 90s, the cadres, movement, mentality and program that created and represent the TKP today have a very big role in this.\u2019.<\/p>\n After Okuyan prevented liberal winds and civil society from dominating the left, he said, \u201cOur agenda within the left is over. We will not deal with polemics within the left,\u201d Okuyan said, \u201cAfter we took the name TKP, AKP came to power. We said that the fight against the AKP is our priority.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThose we march with on the left are our friends, we have nothing to do with polemics, our job is to fight the AKP,\u201d Okuyan said:<\/p>\n \u201cWe said AKP is counter-revolution, market terrorism, hostility to labor, hostility to secularism, collaborationism with imperialism. We said fighting AKP is our priority. But again we were confronted by the left, or those disguised as the left.\u201d<\/p>\n Reminding that some leftists say \u201cprivatization is good\u201d while AKP says \u201cwe will sell like father and father\u201d and \u201cmerchant mentality will dominate the state\u201d, Okuyan said: \u201cWhat, sir, the state will shrink. Democracy and peace will come to Turkey. TKP had to struggle with these,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWE WERE TRYING TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE LEFT, WE WERE CONFRONTED BY SECRET AKP SUPPORTERS\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Okuyan said that TKP had to deal with the support given during the European Union accession process by saying \u201cTurkey will enter the European Union of labor\u201d and added: \u201cWe were trying to break away from the left, but the left was confronting us with secret AKPism. We could not get rid of it.\u201d.<\/p>\n Reminding that even a small section of the left gave the green light to the invasion of Iraq, Okuyan said: \u201cEven worse, a number of movements claiming to speak on behalf of the Kurdish people sent a letter of thanks to the then US president. During the Ergenekon process, they said \u2018Turkey is democratizing, it is getting rid of its purges\u2019. Erdo\u011fan thanked some leftists.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cCHP AND HDP HAVE OVERSHADOWED THE INTELLECT AND REVOLUTIONISM OF THE LEFT IN TURKEY\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Emphasizing that TKP did not want to polemicize with the left, Okuyan said, \u201cBut they did not let us off the hook. Another problem was added on top of it. For years, two social democratic parties in Turkey, the CHP and the HDP, have overshadowed the Turkish left's intellect, march, revolutionism and everything else. As TKP, since both of these parties are known as leftist parties, we have tried to separate the Turkish left and ourselves from the CHP and HDP if the left is hopeless.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTKP CANNOT BE A CENTRIST\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Noting that the TKP has been criticized and besieged since the past, \u201cbecause of this carelessness\u201d, Okuyan touched on the internal problem TKP experienced in 2014: \u201cThis problem in 2014 was actually due to this very issue we were talking about. TKP had a line, program, principles. It insisted on following its path. This path was difficult. Some friends within our party, bless their hearts, decided to go the other way instead of overcoming these difficulties. It is their own choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Okuyan said that those who wanted TKP to come under the shadow of CHP or HDP are standing next to those who are not in TKP today, \u201cHDP wanted it very much, for example, they tried very hard for a TKP close to the HDP line. This is not criticism. They wanted it, they wanted TKP to get in that queue. We didn't want it. The same goes for the CHP. We stood upright, we got our party back on its feet after 2014 and we are trying to continue on our way.\u2019.<\/p>\n Saying that many people want \u201ca TKP similar to the average\u201d, Okuyan said, \u201cTKP cannot be an averageist. TKP is not like anything else. TKP's responsibility is to do whatever it takes to raise the working class of Turkey and change this order.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIS THERE A BIGGER INSULT TO COMMUNISM THAN THIS? WHAT COMPANY?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Emphasizing that everyone now knows that the solution process initiated in Turkey is related to what is happening in Syria, Okuyan reminded that TKP has been saying \u201cwe look at the content\u201d from the beginning. \u201cThe leader of the power sitting over there, the one recognized by the state as the founding leader. What did he say recently, using the word \u201ccommune\u201d, which is also the origin of the name of our party? \u201cCommune means corporatization,\u201d he said. Is there a bigger insult to communism than that? What corporatization!<\/p>\n The project they have in mind is the same project that was on the EU's agenda 20 years ago, the localization reforms. They are saying \u2018the state is the state, let's relax them a bit\u2019. I call it \u2018liquefied state\u2019, they call it \u2018communal society\u2019, and they call it \u2018corporatization\u2019 so that people don't get scared.\u201d<\/p>\n A full confession! We have said for years that what is called localization is the prosperity of the bosses who drain the marrow of our fellow workers here. It is the settlement of capital without borders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNO LIGHT WILL COME OUT OF HERE, NOTHING WILL COME OUT FOR THE CURD POOR\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Noting that \u201cIslamic brotherhood\u201d is being called \u201cIslamic brotherhood\u201d as if secularism has not been trampled underfoot enough, as if Turkey has not been Islamized enough, Okuyan said, \"No light can come out of here, nothing can come out for the Kurdish poor. There are tribes here, there are companies, there is the will of the US-UK, there is Israeli blackmail and coercion... From such a blind, dark point, no light can come out, there will be a breakdown,\" he said. Okuyan emphasized that the reason for the TKP's opposition to this process from the beginning was not opposition to the state, AKP and MHP's talks with the Qandil and \u00d6calan, but opposition to the direction of the process.<\/p>\n \u201cTHIS SYSTEM CANNOT SOLVE THE KURDISH PROBLEM\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey are asking how the Kurdish issue will be solved,\u201d Okuyan said, reminding that the side of the table that had previously called for autonomy and federation said, \u201cWe have given up on these.\u201d.<\/p>\n Okuyan stated that there are roughly four ways to find a solution: THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION TO THE CURD PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere is only one solution to the Kurdish problem. There is only one solution to the Kurdish problem. A social system that will make all our citizens share the resources and production of this country equally.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIN THIS LAND THERE IS A BROTHERHOOD LAW GREATER THAN RACISM\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Okuyan made the following statements: \u201cTKP DEFENDS THE REPUBLIC\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Kemal Okuyan also explained why the TKP protects the Republic. \u201cTKP defends the Republic. It says the unity of the Republicans,\u201d Okuyan said: Republicanism is very valuable for us today. It is very valuable to remember what we have lost. We also have gains. That Republic is useful for this: If we are waging a revolutionary struggle today, if we say socialism, we need fuel. That fuel must be domestic. Yes, our ideology is Marxism-Leninism. But we need domestic fuel. That energy exists in the National Struggle and the Republic. Patriotism and anti-imperialism are entrenched in Turkey, they cannot remove them. They cannot remove secularism from society. Did these values come from outer space? They came from the struggle in the 1920s. \u201cANYONE WHO DEFENDS THIS SYSTEM IS A FAKE REPUBLICAN AND A MARKETIST\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cTo those who say \u2018we don't need socialists\u2019, we say \u2018not that tall\u2019. 100 years ago we closed our account, but our account today remains open,\u201d Okuyan said, adding that anyone who supports this order today is a fake republican and a marketist.<\/p>\n Okuyan said, \u201cThe issue is this: Will we abolish the order of conglomerates and sects and establish the Republic of the working people? Those who say yes are on this side, those who say no are on the other side. It is that simple,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n TKP General Secretary continued as follows: \u201cOCCUPATION IS OUR RED LINE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Reminding the red lines of TKP, Kemal Okuyan said, \u201cOccupation is our red line. Cooperation with imperialist powers, funding, revolutionizing under their auspices is not in our dictionary. We will never be traitors.\u201d He said the following: The task of communists in all individual countries is to fight against their own exploiters. And we will not give up this struggle. We know how to act in current, concrete issues. We have studied our lessons well. We did not write a letter to the US for overthrowing Saddam. We are not among the leftists who said \u2018a revolution is happening\u2019 when counter-revolutionary gangs raised the flag against Assad in Syria.<\/p>\n \u201cA VERY LARGE MAJORITY IN TURKEY IS SUFFERING BECAUSE OF A VERY SMALL MINORITY\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Kemal Okuyan also mentioned the NATO meeting planned to be held in Ankara in 2026. Emphasizing the contradiction between labor and capital above all else, Okuyan said, \u201cFrom time to time, when we talk about these issues, we talk about books, we talk about economics, etc., but there is a very simple issue. In Turkey, a very large majority suffers because of a very small minority, they suffer from poverty. This is an indisputable fact.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cGETTING RID OF CAPITALISM IS NOT A TASK THAT CAN BE POSTPONED\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Kemal Okuyan also mentioned the Epstein documents that are being released in the US and said, \u201cFiles are being opened in the US. You see how the rich live. A terrible corruption, a terrible decay. That fundamental contradiction, the labor-capital contradiction, produces this evil.\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSo getting rid of capitalism is not a task that can be postponed, but the forces to overthrow capitalism need to multiply, like here. \u2018This is not the time,\u2019 they say. What is the time for what? There is filth everywhere in this system.\u201d Okuyan continued as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cSo the TKP cannot postpone this task for any reason. Everything we do has to be in line with this goal. Then current political issues confront us. I am now in my advanced age, but when I joined these ranks I was wearing short pants. The first time I was beaten up as a young man was when another leftist group intervened because I pasted the posters of the party I was a member of at the time over the posters of the CHP. That was the first time I heard the words \u2018let's support the CHP, now is not the time for a separate struggle\u2019, the year was 1977. Half a century has passed. WHAT POSITION WILL THE TKP TAKE IN THE ELECTIONS?<\/strong><\/p>\n In his speech, TKP Secretary General Okuyan also explained what TKP will do in the elections, \u201cTKP will not take any stance that will contradict the essence of the issues I have explained here, will not cooperate with any power, will not nominate candidates from this or that party. We will continue to act in line with our program in the coming period.\u201d.<\/p>\n The last part of Okuyan's speech is as follows:<\/p>\n \u201cWe have prepared a basic text on what kind of an attitude TKP will take in the upcoming elections. We discussed it in hundreds of meetings in party organizations. We took our notes. We will re-evaluate some details. I want to share its essence with you because it will not change. TKP will not take any stance that contradicts the essence of the issues I have described here, will not cooperate with any power, will not nominate candidates from this or that party. We will continue to act in line with our program in the coming period.<\/p>\n Presidential elections... Under socialism there will be no presidential system. The presidency is not a good thing. Parliament elects the head of state and dismisses him if it wants to, that is the right thing to do. It is not right to have the President elected by the people and give him authority over the Parliament. But there will also be a presidential election agenda in Turkey at the moment. TKP will show the same principled attitude it showed in the parliamentary elections in the presidential election.<\/p>\n There is a major obstacle we will face if we nominate our own candidate. The electoral system in Turkey is undemocratic from top to bottom. It helps the capitalist parties. In order to nominate a presidential candidate, you have to get 100 thousand people to sign a petition at the election boards. If the TKP nominates a candidate or if there is a republican candidate in Turkey, it is a big challenge to get 100 thousand people to sign. Because you have to do it in a certain period of time. We are not going to go and support a contractor because we are faced with this difficulty, or another one because that one didn't work out. Getting 100,000 people to sign at the electoral board should be a challenge for all of us, let's fulfill it. When we fail, we can say with our heads held high, \u2018we did our duty\u2019. But let's not go and say \u2018we gave the lesser of two evils\u2019 like others. This is now tormenting the people of Turkey.<\/p>\n TKP has to be the ship that meets the waves as it has been until now. We know that the wind that will blow behind us is the wind of the working class of Turkey. Let's blow the wind of the working class of Turkey so that the party with the mind and conscience of the working class of Turkey stand up and make socialism, which means salvation for all of us, the reality of this country. With the call of TKP, thousands of people from across the country gathered in Ankara to challenge the darkness.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":282248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[285],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-282247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politika"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282252,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282247\/revisions\/282252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fotograf-2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\nOkuyan said that AKP and MHP are on one side of the table and that these two political forces want a dark Turkey. \u201cAnd the other side of the table?\u201d Okuyan said:<\/p>\n
\nStating that the foreign policy of this project is neo-Ottomanism, Okuyan said, \u201cWe have come to the point of reconciliation of two anti-Republican powers.\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOne, a separate state for the Kurds. Is this a solution? No, it would mean war, and it would also mean the loss of Kurdish citizens from the Republic of Turkey and the desolation of these lands. A separate Kurdish state is neither realistic nor a good thing.
\nTwo, autonomy or federation is also a solution, but it cannot solve the problem. Because autonomy triggers separation, not brotherhood. Moreover, it necessitates the sharing of resources. Turkey's east and west are unequal in terms of resources. This inequality is not in favor of one side in every respect. But Turkey can only feed each other as a whole. Autonomy or federation will eventually bring war around those resources.
\nThe third option is to once again silence, suppress, oppress and ignore the Kurds, to say \u201cthe best Kurd is the one who kneels\u201d and then to confront them and say \u201cyou are not Kurdish anyway, you are a mountain Turk\u201d. This is not a solution either. Not a single Kurdish citizen will accept this at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou cannot unite Turks and Kurds when you have this division between boss and worker. Under socialism, all resources will be appropriated by the working people, these resources will be used for the whole society. Language ensures unity. The unifying power of Turkish cannot be questioned. But people's right to speak and receive education in their mother tongue cannot be questioned either. How will it be done? We can do it. There are many ways. There are tried examples. We can join arms and solve this problem. There is already a brotherhood law in this land that is greater than racism, let's not forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAgain some leftists came out and said, \u2018What does Marxism have to do with the republic? We passed. But this was also said: \u2019The republic does not need socialism\u2018, they said, \u2019We are enough for us, it is Kemalism that will lift Turkey up\u2018. TKP did a very right thing. We looked at the victory that took place in the early 1920s, we said, \u2019We do justice to all the soldiers of the National Struggle, we are the TKP\u2019 and we closed that issue.<\/p>\n
\nThe idea of planning, for example. Socialism is different from planning, but that idea entered Turkey's agenda with the Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fotograf-6.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThere is one more issue. We face the same problem all over the world. The people are facing the pressure of an \u2018external enemy\u2019 and the pressure of governments that want to suspend freedoms at home. This dilemma is imposed on the peoples of the world. Either you cooperate with foreign forces or with the despots inside.
\nTKP has said it many times: There is no such dilemma. One should not fall into this trap. You fall into this trap with the \u2018arch enemy\u2019 literature. For example, you say \u2018the USA is the main enemy\u2019... Yes, US imperialism is the enemy of all of us, but if you say \u2018the rest is history\u2019, you are serving the USA. Then the US intervenes saying \u2018I am bringing democracy to the world\u2019. We have always stood against this. We stood against it in Iraq and Syria, not because we are Saddam lovers. Especially not the mullah regime in Iran today. The missiles that went from Iran to Israel, even though they belonged to the mullahs, were a big slap in the face of US and Israeli aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIf one day tomorrow, things change, things fall apart, they try to change the power in our country again by occupation, coup d'\u00e9tat, oppression, TKP will not stand like it did on July 15th this time. We will stand against them. We will say, \u2018It is the responsibility of the working people of this country to change the power in this country, get out of here\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe are in Ankara. The world's most powerful terrorist organization, NATO, is coming to Ankara this year. These summits were always held in Istanbul. This time they decided to hold it in Ankara. One reason may be that the man wants to show the Palace to the guests. We are already saying: We will not say \u2018welcome\u2019. We welcome our friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\nThe main thing is what I just said. As long as this system continues in Turkey, good municipalism cannot be done, or it will be very difficult. We were going to show it in Defne, we narrowly missed it. You cannot accept capitalism and do good municipalism. It cannot be done with tenders and transferring money to favored companies. Goodness cannot breed in the current system. We need to establish the idea of changing this system, this is our only salvation. But we need to repel the phrase \u2018now is not the time\u2019. We are determined to repel it. But we have very dear friends who have been saying \u2018not now, not this election, not that election\u2019 for 50 years. We have made our choice. That choice is socialism. And at every point of life, at every moment of politics, TKP has to act in line with that choice. We have no other choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nLet's make a promise to each other here, we will grow this fight, friends. Are we in?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"