Communist and Workers’ Parties of the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and the Gulf hold regional teleconference
November 29th 2020
Twelve Communist Parties of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region participated in a Teleconference organized by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). The Teleconference’s major subject was “The Communist and Workers’ Parties firmly at the side of the just struggle of the Palestinian people, in the struggle against imperialist war and capitalist exploitation”.
Apart from the host party, the KKE, the participants parties in the Teleconference were:
— Democratic Progressive Tribune of Bahrain
— AKEL, Cyprus
— Tudeh Party of Iran
— Communist Party of Israel
— Jordanian Communist Party
— Palestinian Communist Party
— Palestinian Peoples Party
— Sudanese Communist Party
— Syrian Communist Party
— Syrian Communist Party [Unified]
— Communist Party of Turkey.
Below you can read the contributions of the Parties:
Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
Introductory speech by Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the KKE
Comrades,
We would like to thank you for your participation in today’s teleconference of the Communist and Workers’ parties in our region.
This teleconference is taking place under the unprecedented conditions of the pandemic, which, however, cannot in no way overshadow our firm solidarity with the just struggle of the Palestinian people, as well as the necessity to exchange our views about the situation in our region, which is also one of the basic conditions for the coordination of our joint struggle.
We cannot fail to notice that the orchestrated and continuous US and EU support to Israel, to the detriment of the rights of the Palestinian people and other neighboring peoples, results in the sharpening of the criminal aggression of the Israeli state against Palestine and the wider region.
The provocative “legitimization” of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, along with a number of Trump administration’s decisions, with the most noteworthy being the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, confirm the characterization of Israel as the “strongest US ally in the region” and prove the overall support provided by the US bourgeoisie to Israel.
And from what it already looks like, it is certain that the new administration of the White House, under Joe Biden, will hand over the baton.
Any possible tactics will follow the same direction.
The EU and its governments move in a similar direction, despite individual maneuvers and differences that muddy the waters but do not change the main direction of supporting Israeli aggression.
The rush of the US, NATO, and EU imperialists to resolve the Question of Palestine and other issues is part of the bigger picture of the intensification and sharpening of competition between bourgeoisies and energy giants clashing in the Middle East, North Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Eastern Mediterranean and have caused bloodshed to the peoples of the wider region, of Syria, Libya, Yemen, etc.
Today, apart from the territorial occupation of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria by the state of Israel, we are also witnessing the occupation of Syrian territories by Turkey and the United States, as well as the military intervention in the region by many other forces.
The US and the EU are not withdrawing; they are not giving up and are constantly working on new plans to strengthen their geopolitical influence in the region using not only Israel but also other regimes – allies, in a power struggle with other strong competing forces.
In our country, the ND government, following in the footsteps of the previous SYRIZA government, refuses to substantially and effectively recognize the state of Palestine and proceeds to the criminal expansion and deepening of relations with Israel, including military cooperation, which is falsely portrayed to our people as a solution for security and peace against the aggression of the bourgeoisie of Turkey, which is a NATO ally.
The just struggle of the Palestinian people can be vindicated through the continuation of the unbowed struggle against imperialists and the plans of the bourgeois classes of the region, by strengthening internationalist solidarity and action.
The KKE calls upon the people of all states in the region to oppose and change the current negative international correlation of forces and to continue expressing even more actively their multifaceted solidarity with the Palestinian people denouncing the daily crimes of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians.
For:
- The rejection of the US-Israeli “deal of the century” and the annexation policy of Palestinian territories.
- The end of Israeli occupation and its consequences.
- The creation of a single independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, at the 1967 borders, so that the people can be the master of their own land.
- The right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes, based on the relevant UN Resolutions.
- The immediate release of all Palestinian and other political prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Dear comrades,
We are facing very dangerous developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.
These developments are defined by the US, NATO and EU policy, their competition with China and Russia over the control of ports and natural wealth by energy giants, the involvement of bourgeois classes of the region seeking their geostrategic enhancement.
The consequences of the pandemic and the new capitalist crisis also affect this global balance of forces.
Since 2010, the US, NATO, and the EU have used the popular reactions of the so-called “Arab Spring” to promote the “New Middle East” project, for rearrangements that are in line with the interests of their monopolies.
Except for the issues that have been festering for decades in our region, such as the Question of Palestine and the Cyprus Issue, those of Syria, Libya and Yemen have been added.
International developments raise concern to the people.
For the last 30 years, our wider region has been shaken by a series of imperialist wars, while the refugee problem and the drama of the uprooted remain on the agenda.
We coexist in a single geographical area with many common geostrategic elements.
We must collectively examine the situation in our area.
To plan our action on the side of the just struggle of the Palestinian people.
To strengthen the struggle against imperialist wars and the system of capitalist exploitation.
At the same time, the developments stress that in this framework, a more general settlement/solution is being attempted in the region, bearing the mark of the US-NATO and the EU that encompasses the wider region.
Some elements of these developments are:
First of all, the destructive war in Syria, which has been going on for 9 years now. Its causes, which are deliberately concealed by the bourgeois forces, are to be found in the fierce conflict over energy pipelines, geopolitical pillars and market shares.
The US, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc., used all means necessary to overthrow Assad. They formed, funded and trained the Jihadists to impose their plans.
The correlation of forces changed with the military intervention of Russia in 2015, which, by participating in military operations, is defending its own interests and is maintaining two military bases, strong air and naval forces in Tartus and Khmeimim.
Apart from Russia, the Syrian government is supported by the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and Iran.
The situation in this country is dramatic, the war is now at the stage of division and partition, with the involvement of all the powerful imperialist states and Turkey, which with four military invasions and the occupation of important territories, is directly targeting the territorial integrity of Syria.
The Turkish intervention in Syria has more general objectives.
It’s aiming to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish state on the Turkish-Syrian border and at the same time sets the general goal of changing the borders in the region.
Another crucial issue is the signing of the framework agreement between Iraq and China at the end of September 2019, known as “Oil For Reconstruction”, which provoked a strong reaction from the US and its allies in Iraq, while, a few months later, on Trump’s orders, Iraqi officials and Iranian major General Qasem Soleimani were assassinated in a drone strike. These officials were politically and militarily involved in these developments that marked a shift towards China.
At the same time, another element of the developments is the advancing of the 25-year Sino-Iranian strategic cooperation agreement, worth $ 400 billion, which is still under discussion and is expected to be crystallized in March 2021.
The statements of Chinese officials about the reconstruction of Syria are also important, despite the relevant veto announced by the Euro-Atlantic forces.
At this same time, there has been a rapid increase in Chinese investments in major infrastructure projects in Greece and Turkey, as well as in other Balkan and Middle Eastern countries, such as Lebanon, the meeting point for the land and sea routes of the “Silk Road”.
Over the past 6 years, China has been the largest trading partner and largest source of imports in Lebanon, a country that is politically and militarily intertwined with current developments and interventions taking place in Iran, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Yemen.
At present, it is outside the framework of the “new geopolitical partnerships” resulting from the interconnected projects “EAST MED” and “Deal of the Century”.
The Lebanese people have witnessed the aftermath of several wars, capitalist reforms and are anxiously following the diplomacy of the energy giants representatives seeking to plunder their country’s wealth, while the bourgeoisie is seeking to strengthen its role as a transit center in the wider area, with a distinct role in the slice of the pie of Syria’s reconstruction.
At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that the Persian Gulf is of particular strategic importance.
Very important wealth-producing resources can be found there and a huge volume of oil is being distributed.
We should not forget that the region was a theater of war between Iran and Iraq in the period 1980 – 1988…
Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990…
This was followed by the US war against Iraq, with the “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991…
As well as the war against Iraq in 2003, the consequences of which mark the situation in the country to this very day…
The strengthening of China’s interests in Iran, but also in the United Arab Emirates, is remarkable, as is the US effort to maintain and strengthen its presence in Iraq.
At the same time, Libya entered a process of disintegration following the NATO invasion in 2011 and the assassination of Gaddafi.
Imperialist competition is raging…
With the interference of many countries in the region that support the Sarraj government, such as Turkey and Qatar…
As well as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which oppose it and support General Haftar’s group, in eastern Libya.
The United States, France, Italy, Russia and Germany have a “high level of supervision” of the power struggle, proving once again that the imperialists start the fire of war and make moves in their own interests, to enforce imperialist peace on terms that correspond to the interests of their monopolies, slaughtering and plundering the peoples.
There is also the signing of the so-called “Abraham Accords” between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, with the imperialists seeking to push other countries in the same direction.
At the same time, the role of the Turkish bourgeoisie in claiming the expansion of its sphere of action is becoming dangerous, and is adding fuel to the situation in the wider region, since, in addition to occupying 40% of Cyprus and a 10% of Syrian territory, it also creates military infrastructure in Libya, bases in Iraq, Qatar, and Somalia.
The stance of the Greek bourgeoisie, on the other hand, escalates the aggression for its geostrategic enhancement, through its participation in the US, EU and NATO plans, and together with the plans of the so-called “joint exploitation” that goes as far as conceding sovereign rights in the Aegean.
Overall, we observe the interference of states in the region in the “new geopolitical partnerships” resulting from projects such as “EAST MED”, the “Deal of the century”, or the “Silk Road” etc., which are all part of the effort to enhance the position of the ruling classes in the international capitalist competition, by strengthening the imprint of the USA, China and Russia.
All this, of course, has nothing to do with the real interests of the peoples of the region.
The above aspects of competition, which are not the only ones, fuel at the same time discussions for possible ways of pacification through a “new international security architecture”!
However, our assessment is that these discussions in search of a “new international security architecture” and the so-called “multipolar” world are a lost cause.
The interests of the monopolies cannot be based on logic nor can they be tamed.
Contradictions and competitions are the main characteristic of the capitalist system.
They are sharpened under conditions of its crisis, for which the coronavirus pandemic acted as a catalyst.
There will be rearrangements in the imperialist pyramid.
That is why we say that, objectively, the struggle against imperialist interventions and wars, for peace, sovereignty and freedom of the peoples, is much more linked today with the struggle for the overthrow of capitalism and the construction of a new society, without exploitation, poverty, wars, and refugees.
Comrades,
Allow me to say a few more words about Greece.
The ND government, like the previous SYRIZA government, remains fully aligned with NATO’s strategy, which aims to encircle Russia from the Black Sea to the Baltic.
It has accepted the doctrine of “nuclear first strike” and the plans for the further NATO expansion in the Balkans, guided by the Prespa Agreement.
In the framework of NATO, it willingly assume the role of the “channel” with NATO’s competitors, such as Russia, and of the “hinge” in the Balkans.
It has become an expanded, compared to the past, US launching pad.
The ND governments, in alliance also with PASOK/KINAL, and the SYRIZA governments, are complicit in the dangerous transformation of Greece into a target of imperialist competitions.
They bear responsibilities for forming close alliance with the state of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, under the guidance of the United States and under the pretext of an alleged “precaution” against Turkey’s expansionist actions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The KKE struggles so that our people reject this kind of blackmailing dilemmas.
To reject participation in imperialist alliances and at the same time not to accept any concession of sovereign rights.
To intensify the struggle for the disengagement of Greece from the dangerous plans of NATO, the USA, the EU.
To close all foreign military bases in Greece.
To disentangle from these organizations, with the people in power, being the owner of the wealth they produce.
At the same time, in conditions of pandemic and collapse of the public health system, due to the policies of commodification and privatization followed by the Greek governments and the EU, we struggle for the protection of the people’s life and health.
As capitalist crisis and its consequences on the workers’-people’s strata deepen, we are fighting so that the people don’t pay once again for their crisis.
We support and lead the workers’ struggles, such as the mass strike of the trade unions, which took place a few days ago, on November 26, in defense of the workers’ and people’s rights, against the new anti-labor plans of the government.
The struggle of our Party, the trade unions and other popular organizations is increasingly coming up against employer intimidation, as well as state repression and bans.
We would like to thank all the parties in the region, which stood in solidarity with the KKE, in the face of the recent attack on November 17, on the day of the 47th anniversary of the heroic, anti-imperialist commemoration of the Polytechnic uprising.
Despite repression and bans, the communists, the trade unions, other workers’ and students’ organizations, sent the message of the struggle for contemporary people’s rights, the strengthening of the struggle against imperialist wars and the participation of Greece in the US – NATO – EU plans.
Comrades,
Let me conclude this introductory speech with an assessment of our Party.
We believe that we need to break the vicious circle of contradictions of a system that fails to meet the vital rights and needs of the vast majority of the people, at a time when the rise in productivity and the development of technology and science form preconditions for a leap forward for a radical improvement and tackling of social problems.
It becomes even more obvious that the organization of the economy based on capitalist profit and power in the hands of a social minority, that is, the representatives of monopoly groups, become an obstacle to social progress and prosperity.
The accumulating evidence reveals the necessity of socialism – communism, that is, of workers’ power, for the establishment of social ownership, central scientific planning of the economy, with the criterion being the expanding satisfaction of all social needs.
What becomes even more urgent is not only the coordination of our struggle, but also the revolutionary regroupment of the communist and workers’ movement, at a national, regional and international level. Thank you. I wish you strength and health!
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Democratic Progressive Tribune of Bahrain
مشاركة المنبر التقدمي في اليوم العالمي للتضامن مع الشعب الفلسطيني
نيابة عن امين عام المنبر التقدمي وعن اعضاء اللجنة المركزية اتقدم بالشكر والامتنان الى الحزب الشيوعي اليوناني على هذه المبادرة والشكر موصول لكافة الكوادر التي ساهمت في اقامتها متمنين ان تحظى بالنجاح وبأوسع شاركة ممكنة.
بالنسبة لنا نحن في البحرين فلسطين مسألة محورية تدور في فلكها كل الأمور الأخرى المتعلقة بالوطنية ويقاس بها اعتبارات كثيرة مثل مفهوم التحرر والأنتماء والوعي، في البحرين لن تجد من يختلف معك حول فلسطين سوى تلكالابواق والاقلام المأجورة ،لدينا الموقف الشعبي مختلف تماما مع الموقف الرسمي للدولة فالأخير لايعبر عن الشارع ولايعكس الشعور الشعبي وانما هو مرهون بحالة التجاذب والتنافر الأقليمية والصراع القائم في الأقليم ودور الدولة فيه، اي ان السياسة الدولية لدينا في البحرين لايعني لها الداخل البحريني أهمية تذكر في تحديد معالم هذه السياسة الدولية وانما تظل مرهونة بتبعيتها الى المصلحة الامبريالية وموقع ودور المتنفذين فيها.
حاولت القوى التقدمية في البحرين ان تعكس الموقف الشعبي من التطبيع من خلال مواقف مشتركة مع القوى السياسية والكيانات الأجتماعية المختلفة مثل الأتحادات العمالية والنسائية والجمعيات الأجتماعية والذي توج ببيان وقعته 17 جمعية وهو بالمناسبة عدد لابأس به بالنسبة للبحرين ويعكس حالة الرفض الشعبي للتطبيع، وتسعى الآن القوى التقدمية على ايجاد السبل المختلفة لتنويع المقاومة المدنية ضد التطبيع، حيث تعكف مؤخرا على التوافق على ما اسميناه الوثيقة الوطنية لمقاومة التطبيع مع الكيان المحتل وهو بمثابة ميثاق شرف توقعه الجمعيات والأحزاب السياسية وكافة المكونات الاهلية والشعبية، تلتزم بموجبه على المقاطعة الشعبية مع اي منتج اسرائيلي او فعالية من اي نوع كانت ثقافية او سياسية او سياحية او غيرها تابعة او مساندة لأسرائيل وتلتزم بموجب هذه الوثيقة على تفعيل البرامج والفعاليات التي تناهض الأحتلال وتعزز مفهوم المقاطعة والمقاومة المدنية للتطبيع.
يعلم جميعنا ان التطبيع مع العدو الصهيوني تم بتأثير من الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية في سياق سياسة هي اقرب الى حالة الأبتزاز على خلفية الصراع الأقليمي مع ايرا،ن هذا الصراع الذي جر دول المنطقة الى تحالفات ومحاور عسكرية تجلا فيها الدور الأسرائيلي كأمتداد جيوسياسي وحالة ضرورة متممة للهيمنة الأمبريالية على المنطقة
الرفاق الأعزاء
تبقى فلسطين النموذج الأكثر سطوعا الذي يبرز طبيعة النظام العالمي القائم على تقسيم العمل، تكون فيه انظمة دول مايسمى العالم الثالث تابعة ومنفذة لسياسات اقتصاد السوق العالمي تحت هيمنة الشركات العابرة للقارات. اليوم تقوم دولة الأحتلال بمهمة شرطي المنطقة الذي يحافظ على ابقاء الكفة لصالح مكتسبات الدول الأمبريالية المتمثلة في الهيمنة على مصادر الطاقة الأساس في العالم ومسارات تسويقها وابقاء شعوب المنطقة مستقبلة ومستهلكة لمنتجات الشركات الرأسمالية، الواقع التي تصبح معه هذه الدول المهيمنة في موقع قادرة فيه على فرض القرار الدولي بجعل غالبية الأنظمة تابعة ومتأثرة بالسياسة الأقتصادية لها. هذه الحقيقة تجعل من اسرائيل ضرورة ومعادلة يصعب تخيل النظام العالمي القائمعلى السيطرة ونهب الشعوب. من اجل تحقيق هذه الغايات مكنت الدول الأمبريالية الصهيونية العالمية من احتلال الأرض الفلسطينية بمبررات واهية قائمة على العقيدة الدينية وبالمناسبة هي الدولة الوحيدة في العالم التي يغيب فياسباب وجودها واستمرارها العناصر المكونة للدولة، مثل عنصر الجغرافيا واقصدالحدود التاريخية لنشأة وتطور الدولة التي تضم مجتمع له تاريخ ومصير مشترك مرتبط روحيا بالمكان. لايخفى علينا ان الاسباب التي تسوق لها الصهيونية العالمية عن ان اليهود في العالم موعودين بأرض الميعاد في فلسطين لايعطي اليهود مبرر لأحتلال هذه الأرض ويشردوا شعب بأكملة ويرتكبوا المجازر منتهكين كل القيم والمواثيق الأنسانية التي توافقت عليها الشعوب في دساتيرها وثقافتها وسنتها في دساتير المؤسسات والمنظمات الدولية المنضوية لها .تقف اليوم دولة الأحتلال في ند ومواجهة كل ثقافة او فكر يحمل في مضمونه الوجود الفلسطيني، وتسعى بكل الوسائل من تعتيم وتدليس وتزوير للتاريخ من اجل طمس الهوية الفلسطينية. نحن في البحرين نؤكد على موقفنا الثابت من القضية الفلسطينية كما هو مواقف الشعوب العربية في مواجهة اصناف التطبيع وكما اثبتت هذه الشعوب فعالية المقاومة المدنية للتطبيع سيعمل شعب البحرين من اجل حصار الجهود الرسمية المطبعة بكل السبل والوسائل المتاحة، كما اننا في البحرين نتطلع الى التجارب الناجعة لدى شعوب العالم في نضالها ضدالكيان الصهيوني والعمل من اجل بلورتها بسمات بحرينية وجعلها جزء من تجربتنا الوطنية.
عاشت فلسطين حرة ابية
عاش نضال الشعب الفلسطيني من اجل تحرير ترابه الوطني
المجد والخلود لكل الشهداء الذين سقطو على مذبح تحرير فلسطين
المنبر التقدمي – البحرين
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AKEL, CyprusIntervention on behalf of AKEL by Neoklis Sylikiotis, Member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL, former MEP.
Dear Comrades,
Permit us first to thank KKE for organizing this event to reaffirm on this occasion our solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people. We’re glad to see you all, even if it is just online. We are going through a difficult period with the pandemic affecting almost all the peoples. Through this painful ordeal, the absolute need to maintain and enhance public health as a public good has been highlighted. And this is a struggle that we the Communist and Workers’ Parties will continue to wage. At the same time, the economy’s contraction due to the pandemic is again affecting mostly working people and the vulnerable strata and groups of the population. Together with the trade unions, we are strugglingto protect rights and gains, so that working peoplewon’t pay the price.
Using the pandemic as a pretext, especially during the first wave of the pandemic, a veil of silence was set from the majority of the international media in their attempt to cover up the intensification of political and military interventions and the crimes being committed.
As far as the region’s past pending problems – such as the Middle East, the Cyprus problem, the Kurdish issue –they have been intertwined with new issues, such as the intervention in Syria, the invasion and the in effect dissolution of Libya and activity of the “Islamic State”. It is also clear that in the volatile region of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, the interests of the imperialist states, especially the US and the EU, are converging with the efforts of the ruling classes of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to renegotiate their geopolitical and economic position. This is the reason why Turkey’s aggression against Syria and the Kurds, against the Republic of Cyprus is intensifying with gross violations of international law and the UN Law of the Sea against Greece in the Aegean. That is the reason why Israel is increasing its intolerance towards and intensifying the oppression of the Palestinians.
That is why Saudi Arabia is continuing the destruction of Yemen and intensifying the confrontation with Iran.
The hypocrisy of the European Union on all theseissues is really outrageous.The interests and political, trade and military ties of the EU with these countries are considered far more important than human rights and international law.
All this time, the “news” coming from Syria has been limited, as the battle for the stabilization of the country is underway, so that it can take the complicated road to get back on its feet and create the conditions for the return of the millions of refugees. The same goes for Iraq, where despite the pandemic, the people are continuing to struggle against corruption, to regain their independence and for democracy. In Lebanon, the horrific explosion in the port of Beirut culminated in an economic and political crisis with far-reaching consequences for the people.
The same bigwall of silence covered up Israel’s continuing crimes it is committing against the heroic Palestinian people. At an unrelenting pace or/and with even more intensity, the occupying Israeli army continues to make arrests and administrative detentions, carry out assassinations, military blockades and military operations to spread fear and bombings in besieged Gaza. The unprovoked violence of the settlers against Palestinians of all ages, even against trees and animals, is beyond all belief. During the period when the Palestinians traditionally pick their olives, we again saw the settlers blocking them and cutting down these sacred trees, even with the protection of the army. What we have not seen is the condemnation of these crimes by the so-called ‘defenders of human rights and freedoms’.
At the same time, the settlements and the usurpation of the Palestinian land are expanding. The demolition of houses and all kinds of dwellingsare taking place in a planned way, leaving homeless and at the mercy of the pandemic entire families that more likely than not have already been uprooted as refugeesseveral times. They are destroying their livelihoods and ability to survive with only one objective in mind: to steal the property, the land and the water of the Palestinians, believing that they will yield and consent. They consider that by doing so it will be easier for them to fully annex the occupied territories, which is Israel’s ultimate goal.
No one can deny anymore the full complicity of the US government in this crime: recognizing Jerusalem as an indivisible capital of Israel, relocating the US Embassy, legitimizing the settlements, recognizing annexation, and even importing products from the settlements into the US as ‘made in Israel’. These are blatant violations of international law and all the Resolutions of the UN. Besides, they are part of the notorious American-Israeli “Deal of the Century”,which they are gradually implementing in full synergy with the despotic regimes of the Gulf countries and on the backs of the Palestinian people. The dynamic behind these agreements is the Israel-US policy to control the region, their policy against Iran, and of course serving economic interests, but mainly those of the US and Israeli war and arms industries.
The policy of the US in our region is clearly determined by their interests, which is outlined very clearly in the well-known Rubio-Menendez law, and is in complete conflict with the interests of the peoples of our region. AKEL is reacting strongly to the policy pursued by the Anastasiades government to align Cyprus with the US, a policy that endangers the very future of Cyprus by involving our country in serving American interests and in war games. We constantly express with the same intensity our disagreement with the military agreements with Israel, as well as the use of our territory and airspace for carrying out military exercises with an army that is occupying, bombing and killing Palestinians.
As you know, in Cyprus the 46-year Turkish occupation is continuing. Turkey has chosen a policy of escalating provocative actions and tension in the Eastern Mediterranean region, towards both Greece and Cyprus. It is carrying out illegal explorations for hydrocarbons in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus in violation of the United Nations Law of the Sea, culminating in the provocation in Varosha. Erdogan’s presence in Cyprus on the 37th anniversary of the illegal proclamation of the so-called “TRNC” in the occupied areas, his “walk” in the fenced off area of Famagusta and the threats he has made to open the city and in favour of a two-state solution, have brought Cyprus facing the immediate danger of a finalpartition. The only option for us is the resumption of substantive talks under the auspices of the UN, on the basis of the Resolutions of the UN, to reach a comprehensive solution of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, with political equality as describedinthe textsof the UN, that will safeguard the unity of the state and our people, for a Cyprus without foreign armies and bases, a bridge of peace with the peoples of the region.
In these complicated conditions for our region’s peoples, we believe that we only have one path before us: the struggle against imperialist policies and foreign interests.
In order to develop our common struggle for peace, we propose launching a campaign against the arms trade in the region, against bases and for declaring the region a denuclearized zone.
It is our belief that our strongest weapon is solidarity, which we must intensify, coordinate and turn into practical action.
In closing, we want to reiterate our solidarity with all the peoples of the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and Gulf region who are suffering as a result of the ongoing imperialist interventions. We also want to express our solidarity with our comrades from the Communist Party of Israel who are struggling in adverse conditions and are at the forefront of the struggle to end the Israeli occupation.
Today, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we reaffirm our full solidarity with its struggle for an independent and viable Palestinian state on the borders of June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinians have been deprived of their land and freedom.
This post first appeared on In Defense Of Communism,
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on April 25, 2024
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