File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/97-02-08.012, message 90


Subject: M-I: Turkey/building the ODP/Ufuk Uras interview (fwd)
From: jschulman-AT-juno.com (Jason A Schulman)
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 1997 18:29:08 EST


Any comments, Zeynep?

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Date: 05 Feb 97 03:40:26 EST
From: International Viewpoint <100666.1443-AT-CompuServe.COM>
To: BlindCopyReceiver:;;-AT-compuserve, .com-AT-sonne.comlink.apc.org
Subject: Turkey/building the ODP/Ufuk Uras interview

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Turkey

Building the ODP

9,500 characters (1.5 pages of IV)

At the end of 1995, the Islamic fundamentalist Refah 
(Prosperity) party came to power following the collapse of a
conservative coalition government. Elected on an anti-west 
and populist programme, Refah in power has made massive 
concessions to their neo-liberal backers within the Turkish 
bourgeoisie, and the military bureaucracy which, behind the 
scenes, still controls Turkish politics.  Disillusionment, 
and a series of scandles linking Refah and the other 
bourgeois parties to the military, the Mafia and the 
neo-fascist right have rocked the country. 

We asked Ufak Uras of the Freedom and Solidarity Party 
(Ozgurluk ve Dayanisma Partisi -- ODP) how the left is 
responding to this unstable situation

International Viewpoint: is there a possibility of 
democratic openings?

We try to express the libertarian, democratic alternative. 
The current ODP slogan is "either they become accountable, 
or the people will sweep them away!" We seek to nurture, and
accelerate, the massive protests which have been developing.
To oppose the establishment parties, we need the widest 
possible union of left forces. The ODP is building its own 
solidarity networks at a district and provincial level.



l What is the result of the first year of (fundamentalist) 
Prosperity Party rule?

The Prosperity Party (Refah partisi) came to power with the 
tacit support of the army and capital. Their behaviour in 
power has embarrassed their militants: the Refah government 
has implemented pro-capital projects for economic 
restructuring. As a result, Refah has lost its fresh, new 
image. Nevertheless, the party is different in some respects
>from the other parties, with its strong rank-and-file base, 
its network of economic relationships, and the community 
identity which it has developed.

The only real ideological challenge to Refah at the moment 
is from rather marginalised Islamic radicals and 
intellectuals within the party. The poorer sections of 
Turkish society have not yet reacted against Refah's 
anti-social policies. They have not yet realised that Refah 
can neither transform relations of power at the local level,
nor implement any significant transformation of daily life. 
The party has nether the intellectual capacity nor the force
to do so.

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) links a libertarian, 
non-confessional perspective with an orientation towards 
social struggles, particularly the labour struggle, in 
opposition to political Islam and neo-liberal orthodoxy.  
Refah presents itself as the ideological umbrella protecting
all those who are rejected and marginalised by 
neo-liberalism and privatisations. Meanwhile, they reach for
the whip in order to strike discipline into the working 
class.

* Refah may be a fundamentalist party, but they follow the 
same foreign policy as their pro-western predecessors

In opposition, Refah said relations with the Muslim 
countries of the middle east were more important than those 
with the European Union. But once they came to power, Refah 
declared their allegiance to the traditional foreign policy 
objectives. Refah didn't even hesitate before implementing a
military co-operation agreement with Israel. A decision 
which alarmed many ordinary members of the party. 

The insubstantial politics of "we are all Muslims, we can 
solve all our problems by talking to each other" no longer 
hides the truth about Refah: they came to power without 
having done their homework. Their opposition to the West is 
a cultural opposition, which doesn't question the capitalist
system which links us with Europe.

Turkey's relations with the European Union are limited to a 
customs union.  Turkey cannot enter the European Union, but 
its economic ties, and position in the middle east oblige 
Europe to take the country into account. But the West 
European countries have distanced themselves from Turkey 
over the state of emergency, the human rights issue, 
democratic problems, and the chronic economic crisis which 
has caused massive unemployment and a very high rate of 
inflation.

* Why are Greek-Turkish relations so bad? 

The initiative in Greek-Turkish relations has always come 
>from the warmongers on both sides. The previous Ciller 
government was yet another example of the strategy of 
political masturbation on the international scene whenever 
the domestic crisis deepened. 

* What does the ODP suggest to reduce the tension?

At our own level, we are preparing for a joint conference 
[of anti-militarist forces] to improve internationalist 
solidarity. We hope to work together with AKEL (Greek 
Cypriot Communists), the Turkish Republican Party of Cyprus,
the Greek Communist Party and the Sinasmismons (left). Our 
contacts with these partners during last year's 29th 
Congress of the French Communist Party were very 
encouraging.

* What about the Kurdish question?

The state of emergency continues. We still call for a mutual
cease-fire and a general amnesty. We recognise the HADEP 
party as our partner [in the Kurdish regions]. Together we 
celebrated World Peace Day on 1 September 1996, launching a 
campaign to gather one million signatures on a petition for 
peace. We demanded a society where the guns would be at last
be silent, where everyone can express themselves, and live 
as they choose. 

We realise that the struggle with the parties of war will be
difficult. But there is no alternative to the construction 
of a multi-lingual, libertarian, egalitarian society, which 
respects a plurality of identities.  Despite the challenges,
we are gaining ground with these ideas.

* How is the ODP developing

For 16 years in Turkey, fascism, political Islam and 
neo-liberalism all found a tribune for their ideas. But not 
the world of labour, socialism and revolutionary thought. 
Hence the interest which accompanied the foundation of the 
ODP one year ago. A range of groups recognised the 
importance of uniting the revolutionary left, socialists, 
rank-and-file social democrats, feminists, greens, 
anti-militarists, anarchists and others in a pluralist 
party, with multiple voices, and a rainbow perspective. 

The second important step was to unite the masses. Today, 
85% of our 30,000 members were not previously members of 
left political groups! One million people have responded to 
our dialogue. In one way or another, we strive to organise 
about 450,000 people.

We have three main campaigns: for peace; for 
democratisation; and for the defence of labour against the 
New World Order, globalisation and privatisation.

A few months after the ODP was founded, we faced the 
challenge of local elections in many regions. Despite the 
risks, we decided to participate in five districts where the
right was particularly strong. Unlike all the other parties,
the ODP selected its candidates locally, rather than from 
national headquarters.

We received about 2% of the vote. Given the conditions, this
has to be considered a success. Recent polls put our 
electoral support at about 5%. We will be much better 
organised during the Autumn 1997 parliamentary elections, 
where we will campaign with the call for a real force to 
rebuild. The restructuring of Turkey should be conceived 
around a solution to the labour crisis.  

We are building up our district and provincial organisation,
with a layer of experienced *cadres*. The party is now 
present in 62 prefectures, 300 sub-prefectures and 1,000 
municipalities. We can hold our head up among the 
workers-labour parties of the world. 

We have to restructure the left too. No more arbitrary 
behaviour by the leaders! No more hierarchical models, with 
obedience to orders from above. No to the excessive 
professionalisation of politics, where decisions are made a 
hundred levels away from the place they are implemented. 
Enough of the situation where people don't participate in 
politics, but consume it, passively!

As ODP President, I support the principle of rotation of 
party posts. I have kept my job at the University. We have 
also implemented a 30% minimum quota for women in the 
leading bodies of the party. And indeed, the number of women
and young people represented in the leadership is 
increasing.

Many people outside the ODP were sceptical when the former 
Stalinists, Maoists and Trotskyists came together in a new 
party. People expected to see internal disputes. Instead, 
there has been active co-operation, as we have prioritised 
shoulder-to-shoulder work against the system rather than 
sterile argument. 

Our foreign relations are still below the level which our 
position in the country calls for. Though we shared our 
experiences with others at last year's Zapatista Conference 
for Humanity and against Neo-Liberalism. We will do the same
later this year at the Sao Paulo Forum. 

Inside Turkey, we refuse any temptation to manipulate the 
trade unions, associations and professional groups where we 
have a real influence. Similarly, wherever we have an 
influence in the Turkish immigrant communities of western 
Europe, we refuse to portray ourselves as speaking in their 
name and on their behalf. Those who try to use emigrants in 
this way, in the hope of building a political lobby in 
Europe are doomed to failure. On the contrary, an honest, 
just approach should quickly bear fruit. Hundreds of 
thousands of Turks live in Europe. We encourage them to turn
not only towards the ODP, but towards the left groups and 
mass movements of the countries they live in. This is how we
can build solidarity networks against multinationals like 
Shell, Mobil et Carrefour (supermarkets), who are sacking 
their Turkish workers, and preventing us from forming trade 
unions. 









[UU]



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