Crisis brings on Kaunda's zig-zags

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Socialist Press: Do the murders of six members of the Turkish Labour •Party in Ankara represent a new stage in the political situation?

Turkish Trotskyist: Yes. It shows clearly the great dangers that exist of a military coup now in Turkey and the suppression of all democratic rights of the workers and poor peasants.

SP: Can you tell us how this has come about?

TT: The bourgeois administration of Ecevit's, RPP, which came into government at the beginning of this year with the support of many workers and poor peasants has proved campletely incapable of solving the economic crisis facing Turkey.

The Turkish balance of payments deficit for last year was 4 billion dollars, and this problem shows many signs of growing greater this year.

In Istanbul alone there are 50,000 extra workers permanently unemployed added to a one million total.

• Factories are closing down all the time.

Ecevit has failed to get economic support from the Soviet Union so he has now moved to gain the cooperation of the Americans and the IMF.

At the same time as reopening the American military bases, there has been a wage freeze and the prices of agricultural goods have been increased by. less than 25% against a general inflation rate of 60%.

This causes social discontent amongst the peasantry as well as the urban workers.

SP: What has been the role of the main workers' organisations in the face of this crisis? TT: They have without exception supported Ecevit, in deeds if not in words.

support for the RPP, completely refuse to mobilise the working class for fear of threatening Ecevit's government.

Thus the leaders of DISK, the 'revolutionary trade union confederation'. , who are mostly from the CP, refuse to lead any strikes, or even to recruit new members to the unions.

They refuse to raise any of the economic demands of the working class and will not even argue for democratic demands, for example against restrictions on the right to strike.

Reformist organisations such as the Turkish Labour Party and also the Maoists, which are mostly petty bourgeois, argue along the same lines.

After the murder of the TLP members, Party leader Behice Boran said they would not retaliate, and she was then congratulated by Hurriyet (Freedom) the main right wing daily paper.

Everywhere the policy of the reformists and Stalinists is to disarm the working class, to refuse to mobilise them and to lull them to sleep despite the dangers, thus preparing for their defeat.

SP: What would you say is the main danger facing the Turkish workers now?

T undoubtedly the develop-=- gi me ase's: movement Stay «e-: 3u: •=. =sa = 3 215-- 2733030 Ecevit, they have been involved in numerous individual killings of student leaders, worker militants, etc. . In the Kurdish areas, however, they have led uprisings in three cities, coming into conflict with the national government.

• In the absence of any reaction from the workers' organisations against these provocations fascist leader Turkesh has now been openly calling for a military coup.

There can be no doubt that this possibility is closer than for some time.

As Trotsky says, for the fascist movement to become a threat, it is not necessary for the petty bourgeoisie to support it, they need to be disillusioned with the political system as it is.

This is certainly the case in Turkey today.

SP: What are the possibilities of revolutionary leadership in the working class?

TT: They are very great. Workers will respond to a lead, as supporters of the Workers Socialist League have discovered.

It is possible to build defence squads in workers areas and • through their mass organisatiohs against the fascists.

It is also possible to organise strike action, to compell the release of strikers from jail and to win some gains despite the treachery of bureaucratic union leaders.

Above all, however, it is necessary, to build a revolutionary party in the Turkish working class. This is the need of the hour.

We say that it is necessary now 'to call for a united front of workers organisations, the Com. munist Party, the Turkish Labour Party, DISK, etc., to mobilise the working class on economic and democratic demands.

One of the main slogans of this united front must be for a workers and farmers government, and for building armed workers' detachments to answer the fascist attacks.

The, Turkish Pabloite supporters of the USFI do not have such a perspective.

Though they now agree with us that Ecevit's party is bourgeois, thus reversing their support for him in the election, *a do no: see any need to = orking class.

Tr?. are poduced

magaz re és " •y: despread LVV US LIFE circulation reprinting the Transitional Programme in Turkish, yet they state quite explicitly that they will continue to refrain from ' putting forward any policies for the current political situation in Turkey:

Even in one union where they have some control, they make no effort to win members to revolutionary policies:

They see the fight against fascism and a military coup in terms of petty bourgeois discussion and guerrillaism rather than mobilising the working class and fighting for revolutionary leadership.

SP: What is the significance the Kurdish national struggle Turkey today?

TT: | consider that it is necessary to give particular prominence to this matter in any full consideration of the Turkish political situation.

Any imperialist settlement in the Middle East, holding back back the upsurge in Iran, reaching a compromise with the bourgeois nationalist regime in Iraq, involves holding back the Kurdish national struggle.

Thè suppression of the Kurdish national struggle is right at the centre of recent political developments in Turkey.

I have already mentioned fascist attacks on the Kurds.

In August near the city of Hakkari in Kurdistan, 500 armed militants of the Kurdish Democratic Party were killed and others were handed over to feudal communities where rivalries were deliberately stimulated and more deaths resulted.

It was the publicity given to these events in the publications of the Turkish Labour Party which led to a fascist raid on tieri their premises four weeks ago, long before the murders of last week.

The Kurdish national movement does not just consist of the bourgeois nationalists of Banzani's KDP.

A fight within this movement on the basis of the principles of proletarian internationalism and permanent revolution is not only necessary but also possible.

SP: Can you tell us the context of the recent TLP murders? TT: I mentioned the importance of the revelations about government atrocities in Kurdistan in leading to the latest events.

Following a continual series of killings by fascists, in the first week of October Haskatli, leader of the fascist party in Istanbul was killed together with his son.

The same night no less than six retaliation killings of socialists: and trade unionists took place in Istanbul.

The TLP killings in Ankara took place in this context.

The killing of Haskaltli was claimed by a new organsation called the Marxist Leninist Propaganda Union which says it will kill one fascist for every left winger who dies.

Such an escalation will not, of course, help the working class without the mobilisation of the working class.

When the fascists killed six students in Istanbul in March, DISK called two hour protest strikes.

Now. when much more is necessary, they call nothing at all.

Such is the criminal way that the Stalinists and reformists disarm the working class when their mobilisation is all the more necessary Zambia last week announced the re-opening of the direct trade route to South Africa via Zimbabwe which had been closed since the 1960s.

The immediate cause of this move was big crop failures necessitating immediate imports of fertiliser from South Africa.

However, the Zambian economic crisis has been sharpening over the last few years.

Closure of the rail link through Zimbabwe had increased the cost of both exports and imports.

The importance of all this is not the fact of trade with South Africa for this has been going on constantly via Botswana.

It lies instead with the open announcement of this trade which in turn has important political developments lying behind it.

Major Alongside the developing economic crisis, the political problems faced by President Kaunda have been immense.

For example, there have recently been major strikes by municipal and railway workers, while Kaunda has also been under sharp pressure from the right wing opposition led by Simon Kapwepwe.

He has been in the forefront of calls to reopen the border and make stronger links with South Africa Faced with these problems, Kaunda zig-zags from left to right.

He seeks to deal with the problems facing him by further cementing his ties with imperialism-typified by the opening of the border and trade with South Africa and also his recent aid deal with Britain:

Kaunda hopes to outflank Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union last week issued a statement calling for the exclusion of the USA from any further talks on the future of Zimbabwe.

A statement like this is long overdue from forces which claim to represent the best interests of the Zimbabwe workers and peasants.

However, it can be legitimately asked why ZANU has not made such a statement before.

Why is so nuch importance placed on Smith's visit the USA , the reason given. for the demand to exclude the USA from talks?

Smith's visit makes no serious difference to the talks already going on in secret between imperialism, the Stalinists and the leaders of the liberation forces, particularly those under the control of Joshua Nkomo.

If the ZANU leadership were serious ahout its Kaunda Kapwepwe from the right with his current stance.

Within Zambia itself, under the guise of a crackdown on crime, Kaunda has launched a campaign of political repression.

Political opponents, including supporters of Kapwepwe, have been openly arrested These right wing policies are combined with periodic militant rhetoric lagainst South Africa, the USA or Smith) and courting of Moscow-with threats of calling in Cuban troops to defend himself against Smith.

But in spite of these words, Kaunda has carried out a continuous programme of secret diplomacy with Smith leg Smith's secret visit to Zambia to meet Nkomo) and with South Africa itself.

He was a key figure in persuading SWAPO to accept the imperialist plan on the future of Namibia.

In short, as shown by Callaghan's emergency rush to meet him in Nigeria last month, Kaunda is one of the central props of imperialism in Central Africa.

PHOTO Mugabe opposition to imperialism it would fight any manifestation of compromise and refuse to take part in any talks.

But there seems little prospect they will do this any more now than they have done in the past.

A struggle must be taken up for the building of principled leadership around a Trotskyist programme for *No deals with imperialism!

No Secret talks!

Intensify the armed For socialist

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Wednesday

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The Communist Party. though they talk of 'critical