Anasintaxi 419B (February 2016)

Anasintaxi 419 (February 2016)

 

 

 

- SOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES-MIGRANTS

SOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES-MIGRANTS

SOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES-MIGRANTS

STRENGTHEN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST WAR - STOP The imperialist intervention

CRASH FASCISM - RACISM - NATIONALISM

LONG LIVE THE PEOPLES FRIENDSHIP - Imperialists out from the Aegean Sea

SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLE OF THE PEOPLES - Greece OUT of the EU and NATO

In Syria, since the beginning of the war, it was obvious that the so-called "opposition" was nothing but the long arm of imperialism in the country. The aim was to intervene in the country's interior so as to overthrow the democratically elected bourgeois president Assad. The "Free Syrian Army" and the Syrian opposition were not created by some organized popular power, but they were equipped with modern weapons and formed by experienced soldiers who could confront the quite capable Syrian army.

In Greece, during the same period, the vast majority of political organizations did not take a position in favor of Syria, against the embargo and the sanctions imposed. At best, they have kept an equal distance from jihadists and the Syrian government, ignoring that the conflict between imperialism and people was the main contradiction, since imperialist countries have openly intervened (as had been done previously in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.) against yet another country as "saviors" in order to serve their interests in the wider region.

Eventually, Russia, USA, England, France, Turkey, etc. have been involved in military operations in Syria. After the attacks in France, all the governments of the state - members of the imperialist EU agreed to escalate military operations in Syria (the government of SYRIZA - ANEL among them). This involvement continues under the pretext of "the danger of Islamic state" whose influence is increased or decreased depending on the extent of the bombing, without some support from the local population and without any organization of its structures or its army.

SYRIZA maintains the "fence of shame" in Evros

The continuous bombing razed whatever existed in the country forcing the bulk of the 22,000,000 (or more) residents to flee from the scourge of war and seek a better life elsewhere. In the beginning, neighboring countries bore the brunt of the refugee flow, but from 2015 thousands of immigrants each month are trying to reach Europe passing through our country. Being unable to cross the 12.5 km wide fence at Evros, the Greek-Turkish land border, known as the "fence of shame" made by the fascist A. Samaras, they have no other choice but to cross the sea. A fence that the current Prime Minister, A. Tsipras, refuses to pull down, calling everyone who makes such a suggestion essentially a fool ( "the idea to unilaterally remove the fence and allow the refugees to come through Evros sounds like a good idea to someone who has not got a clue, "11/5/2015) despite the fact that according to a statement made by Amnesty International: “the increased security measures across the land border with Turkey, and the erection of a 12.5 kilometer fence there in 2012, has forced refugees and immigrants to choose the more dangerous route through the Greek-Turkish sea border"(02.11.2015). The result is the drowning of refuges in the Aegean, by hundreds, a crime that probably constitutes genocide.

Calling the coalition SYRIZA-ANEL to NATO butchers for "custody" of the Aegean - The, under German command, Frontex will support work in NATO activities

While the whole M. East  is in "flames" (see Syria, Libya, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) mainly due to the responsibility of NATO and allied states, the prime minister invited the military (!) NATO forces on the pretext of "guarding the maritime borders of the country." In this way he, firstly, appealed to an army to deal with the immigrants, secondly he invited the murderers of the Middle East peoples as guarantors of the preservation of the borders(!), thirdly, he basically considers immigrants a border threat! A motion shall be underscored once again the pro-NATO-imperialist policy of the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition and personally of Prime Minister A. Tsipras.
At the same time, the local bourgeoisie, through its affiliated media and, therefore, the Greek government, firstly, criticizes Turkey (regardless of the reasons)  because the latter temporarily opposes the deployment of NATO forces on Turkish territorial waters ("Turkey undermines the NATO operation in Aegean ", "Vima" 22.02.2016 "High ranking officials confirmed to "Kathimerini" that is Turkey's insistence to limit the operation on international waters and not in national waters, as originally agreed. If the operation only in international waters, it will not be useful in reducing the refugee flows, according to the same sources.” "Imerisia" 24.02.2016), and secondly, attempts to present NATO's involvement in the Aegean as having a "positive" (!) effect on its competition with the Turkish bourgeoisie with regards to the migration issue ( "Mr. Kammenos reckons that the allies would isolate Turkey", "Imerisia" 24/ 02/2016).
The Parliament Speaker N. Voutsis could not fail to take part in this contest of servility to the imperialists.  In his speech at the "Delphi Economic Forum", on 26/02/2016, as a true apologist of imperialism, he concealed the responsibility of NATO and the EU for the destruction, the uprooting and the slaughter of the M. Eastern peoples. More specifically, he adopted all those arguments used by the imperialists to intervene, mainly through military means, in the internal affairs of these countries ( "Is the European Union's political leaders determined to devise a strategy of reception and integration of several million refugees-immigrants from the wider Middle East and North Africa regions are in general destabilization due to wars, civil conflicts and religious fundamentalist tendencies; », left.gr, 26/02/2016 https://left.gr/news/n-voytsis-oi-axies-tis-eyropis-anavaptistikan-mesa-apo-tin-allileggyi-kai-tin-axioprepeia-toy ).

The distinction immigrant – refugee is reactionary and racist

Since the attack on Libya and its dissolution from the imperialist forces of the USA, England, France and Italy and the massive immigration wave that followed in Italy, with thousands jostling daily in boats to pass through the sea to Europe and escape the war, a change in the tactics of the dominant media, Greek and foreign, began to take shape. A change that was initiated, of course, by fascist-like forces and paved the way to the true fascist and nazi-fascist forces, by idealizing their slogans and practices whose only aim is to foster hatred among peoples and to divide the proletariat in each country. The new tactic can be described in a few words by the formula "The good refugee vs. the bad immigrant" which essentially presupposes the fascist position according to which, 'immigrant = irregular immigrant  = illegal immigrant. "
In the context of this change of tactics, the terminology used by Greek media and the Greek government has adapted. A typical example of this reactionary-racist distinction is the screening of migrants by country of origin (as if Afghanistan, for example, has suffered less from imperialism or that the war there is over). There is one attitude towards Syrians, another towards Iraqis, etc. Syrians are allowed (in small groups) to exit from the northern border of our country, but not the Afghans.

The practices of " checking the migrant wave " or " migrant re-forwarding" mean only one thing: More immigrants drowned in the Aegean

At the EU summit held in mid-February on the refugee issue, it is indicated that the EU objective "should be the rapid reduction of refugee flows, the protection of our external borders to reduce illegal immigration and the safeguarding of the Schengen area." ("Vima", 19.02.2016). In the joint communique released after the Council, it was noted that "a substantial and sustained reduction in the number of illegal crossings is required" ("Vima", 19.02.2016).
In this context, the head of the conservative party New Democracy K. Mitsotakis and the bourgeois PASOK Ph. Gennimata had a telephone conversation in which Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that: "The illegal flows should by all means stop now." ( "Kathimerini", 24.02.2016)
Both in the communique of the summit and the communication Mitsotakis-Gennimata, the immigrants are clearly treated as a threat to the borders of the EU. They are, therefore, regarded not as victims of an imperialist war but as "invaders" and a plan of "checking the migrant wave" is drawn which means more immigrants drowned in the Aegean due to military operations against them.

The fascist transformation of Europe

At the same time Europe is becoming increasingly fascist. On 26/01/2016, a law was passed in Denmark allowing the confiscation of valuables from the migrants that enter its territory in exchange for the "hospitality" that would provide them. The law aroused a storm of reactions across Europe since it legitimizes actions against refugee immigrants that are similar to the confiscation of the Jews’ properties practiced by the Nazis before and during WWII.
In Austria, the Nazi-fascist "Free Party" is gaining popularity, surpassing even the ruling party in the polls. Instead, however, of forming a front against the fascist transformation of their country, the other bourgeois parties adopt the agenda, the phrasing and the program of the Nazi-fascists, they close the borders to immigrants, they deploy the army on the streets and erect fences to check the wave of migrants In Slovakia, the Nazi-fascist party is on the rise and entered the parliament for the first time.

Migrant camps became "hot spots"

 
To deal with emigration wave of recent months and in conjunction with the choice of EU countries to close their borders, the government singled out areas for the construction of sites that will host immigrants trapped in the country. These places - most of them in the middle of nowhere – are intended to be closed, at best it is a ghetto and in the worst case will be Amygdaleza type concentration camps, where thousands of immigrants are crammed in squalid conditions under police terror.
Today, a class solidarity to the immigrants is required, escalation of the struggle against the war, the imperialist interventions, fascism, racism and nationalism. As previously had noted: "The revolutionary Marxists i.e. the Leninists-Stalinists should, together with all the antifascists, strive for the establishment of a broad anti-fascist front, but also for the class unity of the proletariat, of local and foreign workers, forging the solidarity and the unity in the common struggle for the defense of their interests and against the fascist transformation of society, against racism, nationalism, fascism and Nazi-fascism and the struggle for the proletarian revolution. " (July 2014)

Solidarity with Syria

The English Facebook page of the Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan) has interviewed the comrade in charge of the Office of Foreign Relations of the Party, Comrade Jaafar Paknia, on the situation in Syria.

The following is the text of the interview.

Q. Comrade Jaafar, thank you for the time you are spending with us for this interview. As you know, due to the Russian aerial bombardment and the destruction of the bases of Daesh (ISIS) and other terrorist groups, the balance of power has changed in Syria. The regime of Basher Assad has gone on the offensive, and its forces have advanced significantly. The Turkish government of Erdogan has violated international norms and regulations and has frantically bombarded the bases of the Kobane Kurds and has declared its opposition to any autonomy for the Syrian Kurds. How do you evaluate these new developments in Syria?

A. The adventurist policy of Erdogan’s government, a government that is sunk in the dream of the revival of “Great Ottoman Empire” and that shamelessly interferes in the internal affairs of the countries of the region has faced disgraceful defeat. This is clearly a sign of political shortsightedness of the present leadership of Turkey. By sending the Syrian refugees to Europe, Erdogan wanted to pressure the European governments to agree with his policy of toppling the legal and legitimate government of Assad and to pretend that only through NATO involvement in Syria and its support for terrorist organizations and eventually through the overthrow of the Syrian government, it is possible to stop the influx of refugees to Europe. Erdogan’s inhumane conspiracy has become a policy of instigation, war, and destruction in the region. This policy was rejected by the European governments, and consequently Turkey’s shortsighted policy faced a dead end. Erdogan asked for three billion Euros from the European countries as blackmail to stop the influx of refugees to Europe.

The gains of the Syrian army against Daesh through Russian bombardment are increasing daily. These gains have encouraged the people in the Daesh-controlled regions to resist and to participate in the war against the terrorist organizations. ISIS has chosen the “flight” over “Heaven”. These terrorists are returning to their homelands by the scores. The imperialist-trained Daesh and Jihadists have spread their terror campaigns to their motherlands. Though France has fallen victim to terrorist operations, it has not stopped interfering in the affairs of the Middle Eastern countries. The Western imperialist countries that supported Daesh and other terror groups in killing 300 thousand Syrians will not escape these terror campaigns. Turkey itself will fall victim to Daesh’s terror campaign soon.

The government of Erdogan that continues the criminal fascist suppression and bombardment of PKK and the Kurdish people is extremely frightened by the recent victories of the Syrian government over the terrorist groups, and it is asking Saudi Arabia and Qatar to jointly dispatch their armies to Syria to “fight” Daesh. What a joke! What a lie! These countries have been supporting, training, arming, and financing ISIS for the past five years. Even Barak Obama and NATO and EU officials are hesitant about the effectiveness of Erdogan’s adventurist policies. The armed forces of Turkey enter Syria only for the purpose of destroying the democratic achievements of the Kobane Kurds and to fight against the Syrian army. This is obviously in violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.

Q. Some hold the opinion that Russian bombardment of Daesh has made the situation worse and has killed many civilians, that Russia’s objective in its rivalry with the U.S. imperialists is to preserve and strengthen its interest in Syria and the Region, and that Russian interference in the Middle East is an imperialist act that should not be supported. What is your opinion on these issues?

A. Before we talk about the class nature of the Russian establishment, we must clarify the nature of the war that is being waged in Syria and the Middle East. We must analyze the reasons why the Western imperialists headed by the U.S. and their lackeys and allies in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, etc. want to overthrow the legal government of Syria. Isn’t this policy of aggression against Syria consistent with the doctrine of establishing the “Greater Middle East”? Isn’t this the continuation of the policy of military aggression against Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.? Isn’t this policy in the interest of Zionism and world reaction? Do China and Russia desire to disintegrate Syria and split it into pieces?

It must be emphasized that Syria has political independence and therefore has the right to freely seek help from any force or country in order to preserve its national independence and territorial integrity. This policy of seeking assistance is not new in the struggle of the people of the world. In the war that is imposed upon Syria, the condemnation of the Western aggressors and their regional allies must occupy the first place. These aggressors are seeking the total destruction and disintegration of Syria. Furthermore, their objective is not limited to the overthrow of Assad’s regime. The suppression of Lebanon’s resistance movement, aggression against Iran, and the dispatch of terrorist forces to the borders of Russia all will come next. The U.S. strategy of “New World Order” is to weaken and remove the allies of China and Russia, to subdue these two imperialist rivals, and to impose its hegemony on the globe. The fact is that Eastern imperialists presently do not have the necessary military power or preparation to wage war on the Western united military forces of NATO led by the U.S. In the present condition, it is NATO that has military superiority and violates and threatens the independence, territorial integrity, and the rights of nations to self determination. Western imperialism, headed by the U.S., is the source of all present wars and is responsible for the flight of millions of people from their homelands in the Middle East, Horn of Africa, Yugoslavia, and Ukraine. 

Russia and China vetoed the U.S. proposal in the UN Security Council and have expressed many times their opposition to the bombardment of Syria. This is a positive stand, as were the stands of Germany and France in opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. It is clear that behind these stands and oppositions lie economic and political interests and motives. A political party, while clarifying the nature of the war and of the forces involved, must adopt its tactic. The independent state of Syria, as any independent state, can make use of the present world contradictions to preserve its independence; otherwise, it will not overcome the aggression imposed on it. One may simplify a complicated political question and raise a general political slogan and put his mind at ease by declaring war on all forces involved and then watch the development of the events. This is not responsible conduct and it is inconsistent with Marxism and Leninist tactics. Our Party emphasizes that we must defend the independence and territorial integrity of the countries that face imperialist military aggression. This defense is a defense for rights of nations to self-determination by their own people.

We must add that Saudi, Qatar, and Turkey’s opposition to Syria is over the export of natural gas from the region to Europe. Iran, Iraq, and Syria planned for a ten-billion-dollar project for the construction of a pipeline to export Iran’s natural gas to Europe starting in 2010. In 2012, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by these three countries. Two weeks later, armed clashes started in Syria. Armed terrorist groups were sent to Syria through northern and southern borders. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey utilized their means to overthrow the regime of Assad. Qatar now fights for a bigger share of the market for its natural gas, and Saudi Arabia and Turkey want the gas pipelines to pass through their countries in order to become a broker for the export of Qatar’s natural gas to Europe and to collect transit fees.

Q. Western media claim that Russian bombardments of Syria have killed many thousands of innocent people and that Russia is responsible for the continuation of the war and the migration of hundreds of thousands of residents. What are your views on these claims?

A. Western media lie about the events in Syria and also fabricate stories consistent with the official line of their governments. The Russian fighter jets bomb the bases and positions of Daesh and some other terrorist groups and have significantly weakened Daesh’s grip on the regions under their control. Russia displayed satellite pictures of stolen oil tankers going from Syria to Turkey. Daesh sells the stolen oil to Turkey at a low price, and Turkey offers it to the world at the market price. Russian jet fighters bombed many hundreds of these oil tankers.

Assad’s victories over Daesh and over the conspiracies and plots of the Western imperialists are very bitter for Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the Western media. These conspirators try to disrupt and hinder the fight against the terrorists who have destroyed Syria. European countries that are vulnerable and are threatened by the terrorist actions want to stop their losses. They see that their policy of toppling the legal government of Assad has faced defeat and that their hopes are dashed, though they – with the help from reactionary regimes of the region such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Jordon – made use of everything they could, including the violation of the UN Charter and of the rights of nations to defeat Assad. Now they are interested in reduction of tension in the region. They see the reduction of tension in the region as useful to their interests and to the normalization of relations with Russia. The government of Erdogan that used Daesh of Arab, Turk, Turkmen, Chechen, Dagestan, and European nationalities to attack Syria now sees that the terrorist forces are on the run and are facing defeat followed by another defeat. Erdogan, with the hope of occupying and annexing northern Syria to Turkey, has invented a Turkmen national minority in Syria that wants to join Turkey. Turkmen who are allies of Daesh and who behead Arabs and Kurds are Erdogan’s brothers and friends and are defended as “non-terrorist” opposition. The Russian jets are making these terrorists martyrs for Erdogan. And of course, the jets that make these Turkmen martyrs have to be shut down by the non-terrorists provided that the U.S. has expressed its consent. With the defeat of Daesh, the Syrian Kurdish forces are gaining strength, and Erdogan is losing the hope to split Syria. Obama and Erdogan play a sly and hypocritical role in the fight against Daesh.

In the present situation, Russians and Assad’s army have no interest in bombarding the civilian regions. We should mention that long before the Russian military involvement in Syria, more than 150 thousand terrorists from 80 countries, financed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the U.S. and Europe, were mobilized to destroy and attack Syria. Now they are defeated and are on the run. The Western news media tries to instigate public opinion against the regime of Bashar Assad by engineering lies and distributing photo shopped pictures.

Q. What is the future of the regime of President Assad? What stand are the people taking in this situation?

A. As I have mentioned several times, the U.S. objective is to overthrow the regime of Assad in the framework of “humanitarian involvement”. The U.S. imperialists and their allies want to divide Syria into four regions: a Sunni region in Damascus and its suburbs, the Druze region in the Golan Heights, the Alavi region in Antakya region, and a Kurdish region in northeastern Syria. This would make Syria a weak, dependent, and fragmented country that serves the strategic interest of the U.S. and Israel and their allies. The silence of the so called human rights organizations on the violation of the rights of nations by the U.S. imperialists shows the hypocrisy of the fake human rights organizations.

It must be said that the overthrow of the regime of Bashar Assad by the hands of the Syrian people led by the working class and for the purpose of establishing freedom, social justice, and the preservation and deepening of independence of Syria would be a revolutionary act that serves the people of Syria and of the entire region. The toppling of the Syrian regime by the imperialist powers is neither in the interest of the Syrian people nor in the interest of the people of the region. Parties and organizations that have not learned from the experience of the occupations of Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan and that are still repeating the theories of “fight against all reactionary forces” and resolving “all social contradictions” at the same time understand neither tactics nor revolutionary politics. They are sunk in the Trotskyite quagmire of a “fight against two reactionary poles”. These forces do not serve the people. On the contrary, they sabotage the national and liberation struggles of the people against imperialist aggression and invasion. It is the responsibility of the revolutionary and progressive forces to resolutely expose these deviated and decaying political currents that damage the movement under the name of “communist” and “left”.

Today, the Western imperialists see that a significant section of Syrians, due to the destructive actions of the dark force of Daesh, have lined up behind Assad’s regime and that not by any means will the Syrian people “rise up” against the “dictator”. The U.S. imperialists and their allies are forced to talk about peace (!), but in practice, they beat the war drums on all fronts.