Democratic Palestine : 39 (ص 25)
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- Democratic Palestine : 39 (ص 25)
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tion is in Turkey. Discussions seem to be
at a stalemate with Turkey pushing on
border security matters, and Syria
demanding more water and a greater say
over the flow of the Euphrates River.
A Turkish government delegation
headed by the prime minister recently
visited Iraq to discuss the issues of
economic cooperation, across-the-bor-
der operations versus Kurds, and
water. An agreement was reached
whereby Turkey will give two credit
packages of $40 million each to Iraq,
help reconstruct some factories, and
provide technical training for Iraqi per-
sonnel. But Turkey has rejected Iraqi
demands to increase the supply of
water being released from newly con-
structed giant dams. As opposed to
Iraqi and Syrian arguments that the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are inter-
national waterways like the Danube in
Europe, the Turkish government holds
that they are Turkey’s territorial water-
ways and that Turkey is the sole deci-
sion-maker as to how they are to be
utilized. In response, Iraq refused to
renew the cross-border operations
agreement which expired in 1989. With
its oil pipelines and water sources
within Turkish boundaries, Iraq is
obviously at a greater disadvantage in
this bargain.
At this juncture, with Turkey
aspiring to play a more active role in
the Middle East and in line with its
national interests, Turkey would not
risk breaking relations with the Arab
countries. However, with the strategic
control it has over vital water sources,
Turkey will have a considerable lever-
age for pressuring Iraq and Syria. A
more active military role for Turkey
implies the use of the close to 30 US
military facilities in Turkey for direct
intervention in Middle Eastern affairs
in compliance with the old-new NATO
approach to the scope of its activities.
These bases, which were directly used
by the US in its 1958 invasion of Leba-
non, and in connection with Black
September 1970 in Jordan, are now
allegedly used solely for NATO pur-
poses. There is also a discussion of
replacing the older Turkish weapon
systems with weapons to be removed
from Europe, in keeping with the new
disarmament treaties. The Turkish
regime’s claims that its southern
neighbors have become hotbeds of
hostile activities against it ominously
complement the NATO attempt to
expand its sphere of involvement. This
was shown when Turkey took the mat-
ter of the intifada in Kurdistan to
NATO, as a foreign threat against
Turkish territory; NATO and the US
expressed deep concern over the
developments. It is clear that an
aggressive reactionary Israeli-Turkish
axis is in the making discreetly, though
it will need the participation of an
Arab state to become an overt force in
the Middle Eastern arena.
Broader implications of the
revolutionary upsurge
Turkish and Kurdish _ revo-
lutionaries are proceeding against the
tide in view of the retreat of socialism in
the international arena. The general
strengthening of world reaction and
imperialism certainly has adverse effects
on the struggle of the peoples of Turkey
and Kurdistan. Itis a fact that Turkey and
the Middle East, like Latin America, are
not among those areas where tension will
be reduced.
Especially with the new mission
given to Turkey with NATO shifting its
emphasis from Europe to the Middle
East, the revolutionary developments in
Turkey and Kurdistan are of great impor-
tance for the oppressed peoples of the
Middle East.
Turkey is a country with a relatively
developed capitalist structure, class
struggle and working class, and a
strategic bastion of the imperialist system
in the region. Thus, the advance of the
revolutionary struggle in Turkey and
Kurdistan would affect the balance of
forces in the Middle Eastern arena in
favor of the forces of national and social
emancipation. Such a change has the
potential to throw the impenialist system
into a turmoil. It could activate dynamics
that would give a new impetus to the
world revolutionary process. The fascist
Turkish regime and imperialism are
aware of the broad potentials of the
revolutionary upsurge in Turkey. While
engaging in new massacres and terror to
block the progress of this struggle, they
are censuring all related news, while
highlighting some so-called democratic
practices to mislead world public opin-
ion.
The Palestinian intifada has found
its echo in Kurdistan. Castro’s cry of
«Socialism or Death» has found its echo
in the struggle of the Turkish and Kurdish
revolutionaries swimming against the
tide in spite of all setbacks. The revolutio-
nary struggles of our region have com-
piled a wealth of experiences that should
be shared by all. There has always been
mutual interaction between revolutio-
nary struggles in various parts of the reg-
ion. Now, in the face of the coming
imperialist attack, consolidation of such
cooperation and solidarity is a must.
To conclude this article, we will
quote part of a call addressed to the prog-
ressive international public opinion by
the Turkish and Kurdish organizations
constituting the Revolutionary Unity
Platform:
«Just as the peoples of Turkey and
Kurdistan were pulling themselves out of
the swamp of the fascist September 12th
junta, they are being forced back into the
abyss of a new «Decree of Silence.» The
rights and positions won by revolution-
ary forces through struggle are now
being wiped out by the all-out attacks of
the fascist regime in the form of special
warfare. The ruling classes consider this
to be aquestion of «to be or not to be» and
have launched an all-out attack against
even the smallest crums of freedom...
Our peoples will take action in self-
defence in the face of these brazen viola-
tions of their right to live in Turkey and
Kurdistan. The brutal methods
employed by the ruling classes motivate
our peoples to engage in broad armed
resistance... Today there is a stark
human problem in Turkey and Kurdis-
tan. This deserves the attention of all
progressive humanity and requires a sen-
sitive approach on their part. No demag-
ogy can conceal the fact that the initiators
and propagators of terror are not the
revolutionary forces. On the contrary,
these forces are acting in righteous self-
defence in the face of state-sponsored
massacres and attacks directed against
themselves and our toiling peoples.
There can be nothing more natural and
more necessary than the resistance of our
people by all means against this period of
inquisition. This is the duty of those who
claim to be modern and democratic
people. We call on progressive humanity
to shoulder its responsibilities.»
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