“Socialism is the future of the peoples”
Contribution of AKEL to the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties (Athens, 23 – 25th November 2018)
“The contemporary working class and its alliance.
The tasks of its political vanguard – the Communist and Worker’s Parties – in the struggle against exploitation and imperialist wars, for the rights of the workers and of the peoples, for peace, for socialism”
Comrades,
On behalf of AKEL, we salute the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties and warmly congratulate all the representatives of the Parties that are present today. Through you we convey a message of solidarity and joint action on the part of the Communists of Cyprus to the Communists throughout the whole world, to all those who are struggling for the rights of the working people, for peace and socialism. In particular, we express our gratitude to the Communist Party of Greece for hosting this year’s Meeting. On the occasion of the 100 years of life and heroic struggle of the KKE we address a warm comradely greeting to its members and cadres.
As Communist and Workers’ Parties, we are united by values, ideals and History. We are united by Marxist-Leninist ideology, internationalism and the cause of socialism. Of course, we know that there are different approaches as regards issues of strategy and tactics that we can and should discuss in a spirit of co-operation and mutual respect.
We believe, however, that the annual International Meeting fulfills its mission provided that it becomes a forum for a fruitful exchange of experiences and assessments, but above all, provided that it becomes the tool safeguarding and deepening the unity of action of our Parties around some key axes. Building on what unites us, we respond to our share of duty in the current phase and state of the international communist movement.
Comrades,
The 20th International Meeting of CWP is taking place in the global conditions of the ongoing capitalist crisis. Despite the assurances from various leading circles of the capitalist world and despite the phases of a temporary and anomalous recovery being registered, the crisis has not been overcome. Even with the brutal destruction of a section of capital, even with all the anti-social measures that have been imposed in the years of the crisis all over the world so as to drive labour costs down and abolish social rights, capitalism cannot rid itself of its crises, contradictions and deadlocks. The capital-labour contradiction was and remains at the root of the dramatic problems the overwhelming majority of people on the planet are facing. Class inequalities. The concentration of enormous wealth of increasingly fewer hands. Poverty, hunger, unemployment. The destruction of the environment. The rise of fascism.
More specifically as regards the rise of fascism and the ultra-right we must stress that it is a phenomenon that isn’t just appearing in Europe, but also on the American continent. Fascism represents forces, who although are portraying themselves as “anti-systemic” forces, has sections of big capital hiding behind it. Fascism never goes against the capitalist system as the cause of the people’s problems. Fascism and the ultra-right turn against immigrants and refugees, backing imperialist wars that provoke the uprooting of the peoples as refugees. They present themselves with a pro-people disguise. Their racist ideology aims to cultivate hatred and divide working people. Their anti-communism is yet another proof of their deeply systemic character. The struggle against the ultra-right – as a product and reserve force of capitalism, as it’s most barbaric and inhuman version – constitutes a historic and pressing duty for the contemporary working class and its allies, for the Communist Parties and the international movement.
However, the most dangerous expression of the capitalist crisis is the dramatic and explosive sharpening of competitions/rivalries between the imperialist centres of the planet that are assuming the form of economic wars (even within the Euro-Atlantic axis itself), between energy giants in the eastern Mediterranean, the South China Sea and in the Caucasus, reigniting old and new hotbeds of tensions and conflicts (Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Palestine), together with an escalating militarization that is bringing back to the fore even the nightmare of a nuclear disaster.
The US strategy as expressed by the Trump administration, marks a new phase in the US’ economic and military aggression to defend their predominance towards the emerging People’s Republic of China and Russia. The new “National Defence Strategy” and the “US Nuclear Posture Review” or otherwise Trump’s new “nuclear doctrine” represent a direct threat to world peace and the peoples of the world. The United States is strengthening its military presence in areas such as the Pacific and Southeast Asia, while NATO has drastically increased its presence in the Eastern Mediterranean – even on the pretext of the refugee issue – as well as in Eastern Europe.
At the same time, the militarization and interventionism of the European Union is intensifying, deepening its coupling with NATO, channeling billions into military spending, investment in the war and arms industry and the creation of new military structures (PESCO, Defense Fund), while the scenario of establishing a European army is returning. Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – in their efforts to upgrade their geopolitical and economic position and assert the leading position in the wider region – are sharpening their military-political aggression to the detriment of their neighbouring peoples.
We believe therefore that in today’s conditions the key task of the leadership of the working class, namely the Communist and Workers’ Parties, is to expose and reveal the class causes that lie behind the competitions, the militarization and the danger of war, or in other words, to reveal what imperialism is. At the same time, our immediate and imperative duty is to mobilize the masses in the defence of peace, fight against the nightmare of a regional or generalized war breaking out. It is a duty that is being fulfilled through the pioneering activity of the Communists in the peace, anti-war and anti-imperialist movements of our countries, in which we have the duty to rally not only Communists and the Left, but also the whole of the working class, every working man and woman, young person, all those who agree with the importance of the struggle for peace, even they might not agree with us on everything. Even though we have not yet managed to convince them that peace is not just the elimination of war but the eradication of the causes of war.
This outlook guides AKEL in our duty to enlighten and mobilize the people of Cyprus against the longstanding plans to turn our island into a military base and an arena of military exercises by foreign armies. This is an urgent task that has been set before us, given that the Anastasiades government in Cyprus ever since its election in 2013 has demonstrated its determination to actively support imperialism’s plans in the region. It is continuing on this this line more intensely since its re-election in 2018.
From the outset it initiated the reorientation of the Republic of Cyprus’ foreign policy towards the US-Israel axis, while simultaneously promoting the undermining of traditional Cypriot-Russian relations and shifting from Cyprus’ traditional positions of principle as regards the Palestinian problem. It is no coincidence that the DISY-Anastasiades government characterised our country as the “outpost of the EU and the West in the Eastern Mediterranean” and as a “shield of Israel”, while it is now making moves even in the direction of Saudi Arabia. The consent for the use of the British bases on the territory of Cyprus to conduct air raids in Syria and Iraq, as well as the Cyprus-Israel military cooperation being promoted (with military agreements and exercises) poses enormous dangers for our people and involves our country in war imperialist plans.
At the same time, the question of Cyprus’ accession to NATO or to the NATO “Partnership for Peace” program – an issue that is also intertwined with the Cyprus problem – is a constant goal of the government and of other parties too, which is now being raised again.
These options are being presented by the government as constituting a protective shield for Cyprus against Turkish aggression. Systematic work is required among the people to reveal the dangers and illusions these options hide. AKEL upholds the position that our people’s and country’s security is ensured through peace, and not our involvement in any imperialist plans and militarization. The recent mass Peace March organized by the anti-war movement of Cyprus outside the British bases has shown that – despite all the systematic propaganda – the defense of peace, international solidarity and anti-imperialist action mobilizes the most progressive sections of our society.
The struggle of the Cypriot people against the 44-year-old occupation and colonialization of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey and the de facto partition of the island and of both communities of Cyprus, is being waged in the volatile region of the East Mediterranean framework. For AKEL, the struggle for liberation and the reunification of our homeland is its immediate duty as the Party of the Working Class and the Working People of the whole of Cyprus. In our view, the reunification of our people – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – of the territory, state, society and economy of Cyprus is an essential prerequisite so that the goal of the socialist transformation can be set in our country. A solution of the Cyprus problem, which will bring an end to the occupation and the regime of the foreign guarantor powers, for the restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus, the demilitarization of the island and the reunification of the people will constitute a reversal of the imperialist crime that was committed against Cyprus in 1974. It will also make an important contribution to the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples and the cause of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Today, the complex issue of the Cyprus Problem is interconnected with the economic, geopolitical and energy interests that are in conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Turkey’s threats and aggression against the Republic of Cyprus, which has proceeded over the last few years to take action to safeguard its sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone, are undermining the situation, while the possibility of the presence of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus[1] not being renewed harbors evident dangers.
At the same time, the passage of time creates very serious and potentially irreversible negative fait accompli on the ground, as well as with regards the demographic composition of the population due to the systematic policy of cultural-religious, economic and political absorption of the occupied territories of Cyprus and of the Turkish Cypriot community itself which Turkey is implementing.
AKEL’s longstanding policy on the Cyprus problem is summarised in the position that one the one hand we are ready for an honorable compromise between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, but on the other hand we will not accept any compromise with the occupation, partition and NATO. This is the reason why AKEL is currently struggling and moblising the people and taking initiatives, both inside and outside Cyprus, in the direction of fulfilling the goal of resuming the talks on the Cyprus problem on the basis of the Framework of the Secretary General of the United Nations, which resolves correctly the issues related to the substance of the Cyprus problem, namely the termination of the Turkish occupation and the abolition of the system of guarantees, as well as the abolition of the intervention rights of Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom over Cyprus.
At the same time, as AKEL, we firmly reject the scenarios for Cyprus’ accession to NATO or NATO guarantees for the solution of the Cyprus problem, something that the President of Cyprus himself, N. Anastasiades has brought back to fore lately.
AKEL, which represents the main force for the achievement of a solution of the Cyprus problem based on principles, has made it clear in every direction that it will never accept a solution that provides for NATO guarantees and the presence of NATO in Cyprus.
The partition of the island represented a long-standing goal of Turkey through the promotion of confederation or a “two-state” solution. The fact that such views – that is the search for solutions outside the framework of the United Nations which provides for the solution of federation – are now being expressed also within the Greek Cypriot community reveal foreign interests and lead to dangerous paths.
AKEL was and is the force that expresses with consistency the position “Cyprus – One country – One people” and warns that a potential abandonment of the goals for a federal solution is tantamount to the beginning of the end for the Cyprus problem, but also ultimately for Cyprus itself, given that it would finalize its partition.
AKEL considers its historic duty for the future and unity of our homeland the defence of the framework of the solution of the Cyprus problem, which provides for the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a single sovereignty, a single nationality and a single international personality and the political equality of the two communities has become a historic duty for the future and unity of our country. This solution represents an honorable compromise for the solution of the internal aspects of the Cyprus problem around which the progressive forces of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities agree on.
The international solidarity of the Communist and Workers Parties and international progressive movement towards the struggle being waged by the Cypriot people for a free independent, reunified and federal Cyprus, without barbed wires of division, foreign armies and foreign guardians, is therefore rendered invaluable.
Finally, as AKEL, we had and still have the conviction that for the Party to fulfill its immediate and long-term tasks as a political vanguard of the working class, it must first and foremost gain the trust of the working class and working people through the struggles for immediate popular and social assertions; for the promotion and solution of day-to-day problems and demands of the people of labour and the young generation; for the resolute defence of labour and social gains from the attacks unleashed by capital and governments serving it. It is precisely through this outlook that we also evaluate and assess our own actions and our own weaknesses.
In recent years, Cyprus has been experiencing an unprecedented concentration of wealth in the hands of a privileged few coupled with a dramatic worsening of social inequalities and a major setback in labour relations. This of course is a process that is ongoing in all the EU member-states, whose deadlocks, inequalities and contradictions it is producing and facing can no longer be hushed or covered up. They are the result of the class nature of the EU as it has evolved through the Treaties in force and it has developed from the policies emanating from these very Treaties. They are also the result of the policies on a national level that are aligned.
The Anastasiades government’s policy, in combination with the support provided from time to time by the other opposition parties, constitutes a provocative ruthless serving of the interests of banking capital and big business. The public education and health system are the subject on constant undermining, while trade union rights are being targeted by the government and big capital. Partial and temporary employment have increased.
AKEL is the only force that exercises opposition from the point of view of popular interests and it is the driving force and the principal mass force of the popular and social mobilizations that have taken place in recent years in Cyprus. The fact that the privatization of telecommunications and electricity has so far been prevented is largely credited to the decisive stand taken by AKEL and the workers movement. The Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO), the class-based trade union movement, is also credited with the fact that dozens of collective agreements that have been renewed in the past year have made it possible to restore the losses that were sustained at the start the crisis, with salaries and benefits being restored, while wage increases have also been won in many cases.
Nonetheless, the fact that most of the anti-social and anti-worker measures of the Anastasiades government – in spite of the social outcry – were ultimately imposed (such as the legislation on foreclosures, the privatization of the ports and the sale of Co-operative Bank, a pioneering gain of the Cypriot people) has consolidated among a large section of working people the depreciation and undermining of the value of organized struggle and trade union action, but also disappointment with the Party and the Movement. From our own experience – but also from history – it has been proven that the effectiveness of the struggles waged is a decisive factor in how working people’s perception – especially that of the strata most affected by the crisis – is shaped about the Party and the workers movement. Consequently, it is not enough for us to declare that we are the vanguard of the working class – we must conquer and gain this role through decisive and, above all, effective and victorious struggles.
The substantial increase in the trade union organization of working people, particularly of youth, the forging of the unity of the working class and the working people moving beyond internal (artificial) divisions (public-private sector, domestic-foreign workers, unemployed-employed workers, “high-paid”/low paid), the combination of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary struggle for wider popular rights and gains, the waging of systematic ideological and political work are just some of the immediate challenges that the Party is called upon to fulfill so that it can overcome weaknesses and shortcomings, and develop struggles that will gradually begin to yield results and victories, rights and gains.
It is the path of struggle through which the Party wins the trust of the people of labour, is recognized by the people itself as its vanguard and paves the way for achieving great social changes and reversals. The ultimate destination of this path of struggle cannot be anything other than socialism, a society which radically solves working people’s immediate problems and needs, a society which resolutely addresses the causes that give rise to wars, fascism and ecological destruction; a society which liberates the enormous dynamics of humanity and science. Because socialism is not some hopeful wish or a romantic utopia. Above all, socialism is necessary and just, and therefore feasible. Setbacks and History’s dark periods are temporary. The wheel of history will always march on and humanity will ultimately take the step forward. Socialism is the future of the peoples.
[1] The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has been on the island since 1964 and since 1974 it has been monitoring the buffer zone between the Turkish army and the National Guard of the Republic of Cyprus. Due to the Trump government’s policy in relation to UN peacekeeping missions, there is a danger that if there will be no talks to resolve the Cyprus problem, neither by this coming January, then its presence will not be renewed.
