This is How a Country Defends Its Interests

Statement by TKP Central Committee that draws attention to the interests shaping Turkey’s foreign policy and outlines how people's interests and security can be safeguarded.

https://www.tkp.org.tr/en/agenda/this-is-how-a-country-defends-its-interests/

What shapes the foreign policy of Turkey is neither “national” interests nor the personal preferences of the government or a minister. Turkey’s foreign policy is shaped by the needs of large monopolies, the sole beneficiaries of a social system that leaves millions of citizens impoverished and deprived. 

These monopolies are the real ones responsible for statements that blame neighboring Iran, which is under attack from the imperialist thug United States and the Zionist genocidal-state of Israel. 

It is these monopolies that pursue business relations with Israel.

It is these monopolies that seek financing from Gulf elites.

It is these monopolies that seek expansion.

It is these monopolies that seek war.

It is these monopolies that seek to manufacture and sell weapons.

It is these monopolies that want NATO embedded deep within society.

It is these monopolies that depend on cheap labor.

It is these monopolies that prefer to see trade unionists and journalists behind bars. 

The monopolies demand, governments comply. Governments and politicians themselves turns to owner of the holding companies. Together, under the cover of patriotic slogans, they bring nations to the brink of abyss. 

Enough is enough! 

Enough deceiving people in the name of national interests and security! 

Membership in NATO does not protect Turkey or its people. On the contrary, membership in NATO draws Turkey and its people toward war. 

If anything, the war unfolding today has clearly shown that neither NATO nor the United States will, or can, guarantee anyone’s security in war.  “If we are not in NATO, the United States would attack us” or “If we are not in NATO, Russia would swallow us” — all of this is fearmongering served for years by pro-NATO fraudsters.  

If the United States would attack Turkey, why allow it inside the country? So that it can stage coups as it did on 1971, 1980, and 2016 attempt? So that it can create chaos through assassinations, massacres, and every kind of provocation? So that it can easily access all kinds of critical national information and keep records on our citizens? 

If there is a possibility of war with Russia, why open Turkey’s military bases to NATO and the United States, and why allow nuclear weapons to be stationed at one of them? So that our lands become a direct target whenever tensions arise between the United States and Russia?  

This does not serve the security of Turkey or its people. This only serves the security of the rule of monopolies. No one should pretend otherwise. 

Injustice and exploitation at home imposes a pro-NATO, pro-American foreign policy abroad. 

Look at the state of Turkey and Greece—two countries that, freed from those who exploit them, could build a bridge of friendship and fraternity across the Aegean. Instead, they compete with one another over who can better please the United States. If asked, all speak of “national interest.” 

A look at Cyprus is enough to see whose interests are being served. In the south: British bases, preparations to join NATO, and Israeli agents operating freely.  In the north: casinos, prostitution, drug trafficking, every kind of corruption and crime. It is a race to see how thoroughly a small island can be ruined. 

Let us recall how national interest is defended. 

First and foremost, by freeing the nation from those who tarnish its name. While tens of millions struggle with poverty, the continued enrichment of the wealthiest one percent remains this country’s greatest disgrace. Full stop. 

If we rid ourselves of this disgrace, we can also free our nation from a foreign policy and security architecture built on collaboration with oppressors, one that tramples on sovereignty and independence. We can free ourselves from the pursuit of pleasing the United States, from backroom dealings with Israel, and from pouring the country’s resources into a pointless spiral of armament. 

This bears repeating: this foreign policy serves Turkey’s ruling class, not its citizens. 

It is in the interest of the people to leave NATO.

It is in the interest of the people to place all foreign military bases under national control.

It is in the interest of the people to expel all foreign troops.

It is in the interest of the people to withdraw Turkish troops from overseas operations.

It is in the interest of the people to adopt a security policy grounded in the people themselves.

It is in the interest of the people to rapidly nationalize strategic sectors—energy, arms production, mining, food, and increasingly all essential sectors—for sovereignty, independence, and security.

It is in the interest of the people to build a strategy and institutional framework centered on territorial defense, capable of defeating occupying forces in this world where military interventions have become routine. 

Once again: a social system built on the brazen interests of a small minority is a threat to the security of the country and its people. 

Should one day, the imperialist actors (whose cooperation is pursued so eagerly today) were to plot and push Turkey into a struggle for survival, no one should be surprised if the defenders of this social system shared the fate of the occupiers.  

Undoubtedly, the better path is for the working class to throw off these parasites before such open aggression occurs, and to place our country on a path of prosperity and security together with equality.