Workers Party of Ireland Statement condemning the Turkish government’s actions against the anti-NATO demonstrations

The Workers Party of Ireland condemns the attempts by the Turkish government to suppress public opposition to NATO through the state repression and bans imposed in advance of the NATO Summit which began in Ankara. The attacks on the homes of citizens, including our comrades in the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), and the draconian media restrictions imposed, further exposes the character of the Turkish state and the nature of the NATO imperialist alliance.

Despite these repressive measures, the TKP organised anti-NATO demonstrations in several cities, including Ankara, where all forms of public action had been banned for 13 days. The bourgeois state reacted predictably with a violent intervention in which numerous members of the TKP were injured and detained. The detention of 145 communists including one member of the Central Committee of the TKP and 8 members of the Party Council constitutes an unacceptable attack on the right to organise and protest.

The Workers Party of Ireland condemns these attacks on the TKP and its members and expresses its solidarity with the Communist Party of Turkey and the citizens of Turkey who have been subjected to repression and police violence in connection with the NATO Summit.

These actions underline what we know: NATO is an aggressive imperialist alliance that has brought war, occupation, destruction and suffering to peoples across the world.

We express our full solidarity with the Communist Party of Turkey, with all detained TKP members, and with everyone who stood up against the NATO Summit. We demand the immediate release of all communists in custody, the dropping of all charges, and an end to every measure restricting all anti-NATO political activity.

The TKP will not be intimidated.

Hands off TKP!

Release all communist and anti-imperialist militants detained!

Central Executive Committee

Workers Party of Ireland

(wpi.international@gmail.com)