Rising Tide of Violence Against Turkish Workers

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CASON SON TILC supporters picket the Turkish Embassy in protest at the murder of Turkler A statement adopted by the Trotskyist International Liaison Committee Summer School, July 1980, and signed by the following organisations: Workers Socialist League (Britain); Socialist League (Democratic Centralist) (USA sympathising section); Trotskistisk Arbejder Forbund (Denmark); Gruppo Bolscevico Leninista (Italy); Liga The killing of the leader of the Metal Workers' Union and a founder of DISK, Kemal Turkler, indicates the depth of the crisis in Political killings are running at nearly ten a day. In the last two months a reactionary former Prime Minister, an RPP deputy and a leader of the fascist NAP have been killed.

This latter killing sparked off AAISUATIO TTP PIONPAT a1 KO an affanniza hIr tha Antinonl Antinn Donter D'an nontritian tha Islamic religion in Turkey has been divided between the S unni majority and the Alevi min‹ prity who are a branch of the St li-ite sect.

Ambush

The deputy chairman of the NAP, Gun Sazak, was killed in an ambush on May 28.

A Sunni shopkeeper in Corum explained:

"Every thing started after sazak was kiltu. It NAr Duys Chant war billed The NAD Inera nantan IPA1 amn P. Annidnd taninl dkiz laft lesson but they could not raise popular support. So they decided to turn it into a religious battle. They succeeded».

In December 1978 a similar fascist-inspired sectarian massacre left over 130 dead but in Corum the minority areas were armed and organised: Barricades and automatic weapons prevented a massacre the army were prepared to allow.

The comparative failure in Mmerson than ratinen corum provokeu ine government to assert we dulmony oi want to nonnat tha anathaniter at Obrera Bolchevique de Chile. the state at the of Fatsa.

A left-wing petty bourgeois party, Dev. Yol, has established control of the town council, introducing price controls and eliminating the black market.

According to Prime Minister Demirel this left-wing "commune" threatened the state. A dawn curfew was followed by a house to house search.

Over 500 were arrested. No resistance was put up to this army operation. Unlike at corum, no lascist roIces were Maurie as r farmint farran TITANA involved invaluad NO T0 FSCS* BIRE The sophisticated combination of parliamentary tactics and extra-parliamentary violence practiced by the NAP contrasts starkly with the bankruptcy of Ecevit and the RPP.

Exploiting their relationship with Demirel to the full, the NAP are using the support of the local administration and police to try to establish control of towns like Corum.

Where the fascists are unable to operate, as at Fatsa, the NAP can rely on the army to restore law and order'. When the fascists hold rallies no police are in sight-the fascists provide their own security.

When Ecevit and a party of MPs were stoned recently they appealed to Demirel and then to Chief of Staff Evrun for state protection!

While fascists escalate the crisis in the country they can look on with satisfaction at the farce presented by the 'normal' bourgeois form of rule in Parliament. For over four months no Parliamentary business has been enacted because, despite over 100 ballots, no President has been elected.

Although the candidates including the RPP's nominee, are ex-generals, no one party can assemble a majority for their candidate.

Ecevit's solution to this deadlock is a coalition of everyone but the fascists. Demirel won a vote of confidence at the beginning of July one week after Ecevit's vote of censure failed.

The reactionary religious NSP, who are normally allies of the RPP, demanded the premiership of any future coalition with the RPP as a condition for voting against Demirel. Even Ecevit could not concede this condition.

Unresolved.

The crisis in Turkey is far from resolved. As yet the military are unwilling to tear away the veil of Parliamentary rule.

The fascists, although their support is far stronger in the police and local administrations than in the army, are not strong enough to move outside the umbrella of martial law imposed by the army.

The vote of confidence can be seen to reflect imperialism's judgement on Demirel's government so far. Over the last few weeks $3 billion in loans and rescheduled debts have beem granted by the IMF/OECD. A new defence agreement does not limit imperialist forces to activities within Turkey's borders, preparing Turkey as a bastion which imperialism has lacked in the area since the fall of the Shah.

However, this can only be accomplished after the crushing of the Kurdish and Turkish masses' resistance to Demirel's IMF-inspired policies of free trade and wage freezes in the context of inflation over 100% and 4 devaluations since January.

Turkler As yet the Turkish working class has not suffered irreversible defeat. Their ability to organise and fight was clear at Izmir earlier this year.

The continued resistance as in towns like Corum shows why the fascists as yet "cannot raise popular support" and why the army tries to stay in the backgroud.

In Turkish Kurdistan the army is even less strong and only capable of token removal of barricades and short-lived occupations of towns. Also, the failure of the reactionary Iranian regime's attempts to crush the Kurds enhances the resistance to Turkish oppression.

The key to the situation lies with the Turkish working class and in particular the question of its leadership. Without a break from the pacifist parliamentarianism of Ecevit a military-fascist coup is inevitable.

The questions of the defence of the working class now allow of no other answer than that of socialist revolution.

To this end the first step is a united front of workers organisations to build a basis for an effective workers' militia, and to campaign for a workers' and peasants' government that would eliminate the basis for fascism provided by the bourgeois regime in crisis.

Turkish police in action

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MKERMATIONAL TROTSKYSTE