Mass Ankara Rally by TKP: Thousands Rise in Defiance

Responding to the call of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) to the working people, thousands from across Turkey gathered in Ankara to challenge the darkness.

The gathering, titled “Like Ships Facing the Waves; TKP Defies All,” began at Ankara Congresium with the TKP Choir taking the stage and the audience collectively singing The Internationale.

While the hall was completely full, hundreds of people followed the event on screens set up outside the venue.

Resisting workers in the hall

Digel Textile workers, who have been on resistance for more than a year; Elsa Textile workers, who resisted after being dismissed and forced their employer to back down; subcontracted workers at İzmir Metropolitan Municipality who won their rights through struggle despite being employed as subcontractors; and Ankara Algida Warehouse workers who raised their voices through their resistance all attended TKP’s mass gathering.

The history of the Communist Party of Turkey was presented through theatrical sketches, folk dances, and marches and songs performed by the TKP Choir and Gülcan Altan.

TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan gave the main speech in the event

TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan referred to the history of TKP which had been reminded throughout the event and stressed that after the 1980 military coup, resisting liberalism was vital, and argued that the Turkish left was not overtaken by liberal currents in the 1980s and 1990s largely because of the cadres, political line, mentality, and program that created and still define the TKP. Okuyan said that after blocking liberal and NGO-oriented politics within the left, the party ended intra-left polemics and made the fight against the AKP its main priority following its rise to power, describing the AKP as counter-revolutionary, hostile to labor and secularism, and aligned with imperialism. He added that TKP was repeatedly confronted by forces on the left that supported privatization, the EU accession process, and even imperialist interventions, including the invasion of Iraq.

Okuyan said that for years, two social democratic parties—CHP and DEM—had overshadowed the intellectual and revolutionary character of the Turkish left, pushing TKP to distance itself from both. Referring to the party’s 2014 split, he said the division stemmed from TKP’s refusal to abandon its principles or fall under the shadow of CHP or DEM, despite pressure to do so. Emphasizing that many wanted an “average” TKP, Okuyan rejected this approach, stating that TKP could not resemble any other party and that its responsibility was to mobilize the working class of Turkey and change the existing system.

On the “peace process”

Okuyan said it is now clear that Turkey’s so-called peace process was tied to developments in Syria, stressing that TKP focused on the content from the very beginning. He pointed out that the process brought together AKP and MHP—forces hostile to the Republic—with Öcalan (the leader of the PKK), who is officially recognized as a political actor by the state. Criticizing Öcalan’s description of the “commune” as “corporatization,” Okuyan called this a direct insult to communism and argued that the project amounts to the decentralization agenda long promoted by the EU: a “liquefied state” that enables capital to expand everywhere under progressive-sounding labels.

He argued that nothing positive will emerge from this process, especially for poor Kurds. Framed with rhetoric such as “Islamic brotherhood,” the project serves tribal interests, capitalists, and imperialist powers rather than the working people. Its foreign-policy outlook, he said, is neo-Ottomanist, representing an agreement between two anti-Republican forces. TKP’s opposition, Okuyan stressed, is not to dialogue itself but to the reactionary direction and class content of the process.

According to Okuyan, the Kurdish question cannot be solved within the existing system. A separate Kurdish state would mean war, autonomy or federation would deepen divisions and resource conflicts, and repression and denial are no longer viable. The only real solution, he said, is a socialist system that equally distributes resources among all citizens. Under socialism, solidarity between Turkish and Kurdish working people can be achieved. In these lands, brotherhood is stronger than racism.

On the NATO summit in Ankara this year

Referring to the NATO summit scheduled to take place in Ankara in 2026, TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan said that the city would host what he described as “the world’s most powerful terrorist organization.” He stated that they would not welcome NATO representatives, adding that their welcome would be reserved for “friends,” not for NATO.

Struggle against capitalism cannot be postponed

Referring to the release of the Epstein files in the US, Okuyan said the documents revealed the extreme corruption, decay, and moral collapse of the ruling classes, arguing that this reality is a direct product of capitalism itself. He emphasized that the fundamental contradiction between labor and capital generates such corruption and that, for this reason, “liberating ourselves from capitalism is not a task that can be postponed.” Okuyan strongly rejected claims that “now is not the time,” asking instead when such a time would ever come, given that the destructive consequences of the system are visible everywhere. He recalled that the same argument had been used repeatedly for decades, including within the left, to justify postponing independent political struggle. Okuyan said TKP has consistently refused to delay this task, insisting that all political activity must be shaped by the necessity of systemic change. He added that as long as the current system continues, even genuinely good municipal governance cannot be achieved , or only with extreme difficulty, since capitalism inevitably operates through tenders, favoritism, and the transfer of public resources to private interests rather than the public good.

TKP’s electoral position

Okuyan also outlined TKP’s electoral stance, referring to the parliamentary and presidential elections that is expected to be held in 2028 latest, saying the party would not enter alliances or nominate candidates from other political forces and would remain aligned with its program. Criticizing the presidential system in principle, he said TKP would nonetheless maintain a consistent position under current conditions. Addressing the difficulty of nominating a presidential candidate due to Turkey’s restrictive electoral rules, including the requirement to collect 100,000 signatures, he said TKP would not support “the lesser evil” because of institutional obstacles. Instead, he called for confronting these barriers directly, stating that even failure would be preferable to compromising principles, and emphasized that TKP would continue to pursue its political path with determination.