Comment on detention of Turkish soldiers in Iraq

international | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Thursday July 24, 2003 11:15 by Meryem - DHKC , translated by DHKC London Information Bureau londra at post dot com

Arrest by US troops a few weeks ago plunges Turkey's government into crisis

This is Statement 308 by the DHKC (Revolutionary People's Liberation Front) from Turkey. Dated July 5, it looks at the recent detention of Turkish troops in Iraq by US authorities and notes that the helplessness of the Turkish army and government when confronted by their imperial master. The statement says only the revolutionaries genuinely defend national interests.

July 5, 2003 Statement: 308

Complete independence or complete dependence: there is no middle way!

We are the ones who represent the way to independence.
The government`s way is one of collaboration and humiliation.

You are dependent on me. You are my colony. Every step you take must
be taken with my consent and approval. You will treat all my policies
as though they were your own. If you don`t then I will do just as I
did in Iraq! I will show you where the borders are, I will humiliate
you, oppress you and not even take you seriously!
The arrest of dozens (the exact number is unknown) of "special
unit members" of the Turkish Armed Forces by America in the
Iraqi city of Suleymaniya was in every respect a historic lesson
showing what collaboration leads to.
Collaboration leads to disgrace and loss of dignity in the end.
It is already visible what situation the pro-American generals and
the AKP*, who have turned our country into a colony of America, have
been brought to;
As pathetic collaborators whose bayonets have fallen off, all they
can do is lament. They have become so careless that they cannot even
utter a harsh word about it.

We are right!
We have said for exactly 33 years that our country is only
pseudo-independent and in fact is secretly occupied by imperialism.
For this is the reality of Turkey. There was only one thing that
patriots could do in a land which is dependent on imperialism: that
is to fight for independence.
Over decades we have given thousands of martyrs for an
"independent and democratic Turkey!"
We stated that in this country everything, from the economy to
politics, from the army to culture was determined by America, and
that the oligarchy`s nationalism and its chatter about domestic
policy was pure demagogy. We said, put an end to collaboration.
For doing this we have been subjected to torture, executions,
disappearances, imprisonment and death.
We are still continuing to die.
Apart from that, let us cast another glance at the events in Iraq; in
relation to this country you can see who has spoken the truth for 50
years and who has lied, who is right and who is wrong.
We are the only force that sacrifices itself for independence, in the
full awareness that we must drive imperialism out of our country in
order not to have to put up with this disgrace and humiliation; from
Kizildere** to today, we have fought for independence.
In the face of every attack by America and the pro-Americans, we have
shouted the slogan of independent Turkey. If another force besides
ourselves has said, "We have also defended independence, we have
also fought against imperialism!", that is not possible. For
besides us there is no force.
We are the only force that gone into the struggle for independence
and given martyrs; from our point of view there is nothing
extraordinary about that; we have only done what any people would do
that loves its country and is devoted to its national dignity. We
have only done what patriots and revolutionaries ought to do. We are
still doing this and will continue to do it.
Our aim, to stress it again, is to make it clear who is right and who
is wrong!
It must be made clear that the front of the pro-Americans is
collapsing and the front of independence is growing.

The helplessness of the Turkish Armed Forces
The methods they have used against the people for decades have now
been turned on them!
It is quite clear what America is doing; it is upbraiding the Turkish
army. It is humiliating the government. Look at the plight the
generals of the Turkish Armed Forces are in; they trailed after the
Pentagon for years and carried out its orders and instructions to
perfection and now cannot find anyone there to talk to in relation to
the arrests. The Pentagon does not take seriously the generals who it
called "our children" on September 12 ***, the American
government does not take its strategic partners seriously and
humiliates them. The oligarchy cannot even find out where its
soldiers are. The American officials in Iraq say, we don`t know
anything, we have no information. The oligarchy in Turkey knows this
reply very well. How often have the generals, officers and ministers
of this county given just such an answer. Now the same methods are
being turned on them.
Plots and provocations are all about the character of the oligarchy.
What they did to the people previously is now happening to them. The
methods they employed against the people are now used against them.
The irony of fate; the army attacks the people on the pretext of
terrorism, the USA arrests its NCOs under the same pretext!
That is the army that slaughters us when we fight for independence
and shout out in the city squares, "Down With America!" and
"Long Live a Completely Independent Turkey!" They got their
training and weapons from America. And they used these weapons to
kill us.

Who did what?
We are fighting to raise the national dignity. We are fighting to
drive out imperialism. The collaborationist oligarchy does the
opposite. It has been like that for 50 years. They thought of their
own interests, not those of the people, the nation or the country.
Their only concern is to be able to increase their profits.
So they signed dozens of unequal treaties. They sent soldiers to
Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan to serve American interests. Until
recently they discussed whether to send 5,000 Turkish soldiers to
serve American generals in Iraq!
Yes, from Korea to the present: up to now, the Great General Staff
and all governments in power have been in the service of America. On
the international stage, they supported American interests, while
domestic policy served exploitation by the monopolies. Most recently
the AKP has taken on this task.
They felt no shame about saying that "we are selling
everything", they felt no shame about submission to America. For
months they were preoccupied with how to serve America even better,
so that they could be forgiven for the faux pas about the permission
for stationing US soldiers.
Here is the result of the subordination:
Now you are wallowing in the undignified swamp that collaborating
with America has brought you to.

Either subservience or dignity!
The only alternative to submission to imperialism is the struggle for
independence. Those who slaughter us in the name of America are
imperialism`s watchdogs!
In the neo-colonial ties that the USA developed after the second
imperialist war to divide up the world (World War II), neo-colonial
countries appear to have autonomy. When the socialist system existed
it was possible for them to extend this autonomy. But since the
beginning of the 1990s, after the collapse of the socialist system,
the politics of empire developed by America no longer allowed room
for that. America now says that there is no longer room even for
formal independence. It insists on others behaving like its own
states do. The US authorities have expressed very clearly what they
want from Turkey: Turkey must say that the interests of America are
its own interests!
That is the form America`s imperial policy takes currently.
The arrests are a call to Turkey to leave Iraq for good and are in
general a way of imposing the empire on others. America`s ties to its
neo-colonies will from now on develop within this framework under all
circumstances.
If the arrest of members of the Turkish Armed Forces is viewed in the
framework of imposing an empire, then it is a normal matter. The army
and the government should prepare themselves for even bigger
disasters and humiliations.
EITHER the country will go further down this road OR it will go down
the road of an independent Turkey.
We stand for the road to an independent, democratic Turkey.
The government stands for dependence, collaboration and humiliation.
This road means treason to one`s own country. We will not forgive
those who have brought our country to this disgrace.
Tens of thousands of soldiers are in the mountains and cities of our
country hunting for the revolutionaries. Could you use these soldier
against America? No! For you would not be able to obtain ammunition
or even underwear for these soldiers. In this country the army is
dependent on America even in matters such as the underwear it uses.
And regrettably it is still possible for this army to deceive certain
circles with its demagogy about national feeling.
Don`t forget: look at the reality of Turkey: the rulers with their
government and the Great General Staff are still massacring the
freedom fighters in the mountains in order to implement the policies
of the IMF to perfection. They are still murdering those in the
F-Type prisons who still fight for an independent Turkey.
Nobody should think it is really the revolutionaries the are shooting
at.
They are shooting at independence, an independent Turkey and the
national dignity.

Servitude or independence!
With regard to this humiliation, will we share the lack of dignity
shown by the AKP and the Great General Staff, or will w raise the
banner of national dignity and independence?
There actually is a way of replying to this humiliation: but this
reply cannot come from the Great General Staff, the AK or the other
system parties, or TUSIAD (the employers` confederation) or the
Turkish parliament. It comes from the people, th patriots.
* All ties with America must be broken off immediately!
* All economic, political and military treaties concluded up to now
must be cancelled!
* US bases must be closed and our American planes denied access to
our airspace!
* Membership of NATO, the IMF and the World Bank must be ended
immediately!

The bourgeois system parties have suddenly presented themselves as
being nationalistic. Give up this demagogy. Everyone knows what you
will do if you come to power tomorrow; you will fall at America`s
feet and beg for mercy.
National feeling is about taking the national honour as your own and
conducting a struggle against the imperialists. The national interest
means not allowing the people who live in this country to be
exploited and allowing this country to become imperialism`s backyard.
A party or army that does not do that is not national.

To the peoples of Turkey!
We were right. The army and the parties which for decades ruled this
country using demagogy about national feeling were telling lies. We
told the truth. While they have been selling our country for years,
we defended it.
Collaboration`s final outcome is the loss of dignity.
The people of Turkey should choose not the side of the collaborators
but the revolutionaries, in order to free themselves from this
disgrace. Those who despite this disgrace still support and defend
the system parties and the Great General Staff also bear the load of
this indignity and humiliation.
Our people; we are waving the flag of independence which we have
waved since 1970, and will continue to wave it in the face of all
oppression by the imperialists and their collaborators. Let us gather
behind it and continue to hold aloft the banner of independence.

We are right. We will bring about an independent Turkey!


DEVRIMCI HALK KURTULUS CEPHESI
(Revolutionary People`s Liberation Front)

* AKP: the current governing party in Turkey
** Kizildere: a place in the Black Sea region where on March 30, 1972
11 revolutionaries from the THKP-C, forerunner of the DHKP-C and
THKO, another revolutionary organisation were martyred in a clash
with the regime`s forces. This resistance has gone down as a
manifesto in the history of Turkey`s revolution.
*** The September 12, 1980 military coup in Turkey.