On the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the
Martyrdom of the Founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/ Marxist-Leninist,
I.brahim Kaypakkaya
-
Statement by the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement
May 1993
20 years ago
Comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was the victim of a cowardly assassination
while in the custody of the reactionary Turkish regime. At the time
of his death Comrade Kaypakkaya was only 24 years old, yet he had
already made great contributions to the development of the revolutionary
movement in Turkey. His death was a serious loss to the proletariat
in Turkey and to the international communist movement, deprived
of a leader and teacher who was making important contributions in
practice as well as theory to the proletarian revolution.
Ibrahim Kaypakkaya's
brief but extremely rich life was integrally connected to the world-wide
struggle taking place in the 1960s between revolutionary Marxism
and counter-revolutionary revisionism on a world scale. Under the
leadership of Comrade Mao Tsetung and inspired to a large degree
by the Cultural Revolution that Comrade Mao Tsetung had initiated,
revolutionaries throughout the world launched a fierce struggle
against revisionism on the ideological, political and organizational
fronts. In most cases this meant a rupture with the old revisionist
parties, which had long abandoned even the pretence of revolution,
and the creation of new revolutionary parties based on Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
ideology.
In Turkey,
it was Comrade Ibrahim Kaypakkaya who led this process in all its
aspects. He developed a lucid and devastating critique of revisionism
on a whole series of fronts and, furthermore, took the lead in putting
this political line into practice - specifically by initiating the
first serious attempt to launch a genuine People's War in the history
of Turkey. Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was the most thorough and ardent defender
in Turkey of the line of Comrade Mao Tsetung and the sharpest opponent
of the false "defenders" of Mao Tsetung, who tried to strip out
Mao's proletarian revolutionary content.
Ibrahim Kaypakkaya
exposed the reformist, legalist and economist activities of the
Shefak revisionists which the latter tried to pass off to the masses
as "revolutionary mass work". Comrade Kaypakkaya ruthlessly unravelled
the revisionists' poisonous eclecticism and convincingly argued
that "these bourgeois gentlemen think that by changing the name
of a thing one can change its nature". Comrade Kaypakkaya's observation
on revisionist demagogy is still valid in understanding today's
political struggles.
Comrade Ibrahim
Kaypakkaya also clearly showed that the only real solution to oppression
of the Kurdish nation is a New Democratic Revolution led by the
proletariat and its party.
For all these
reasons Ibrahim Kaypakkaya has always been, in death as well as
life, the target of all sorts of enemies of the revolution. Those
who oppose the development of the revolution have found it necessary
to attack the line of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, either directly or shamefacedly.
Some who, because of the high prestige of Comrade Kaypakkaya, hypocritically
claim to defend his legacy - such as "Bolsheviks" and other renegades
and their likes - criticize Ibrahim Kaypakkaya's so-called "shortcomings"
and/or caricaturize and twist his line in order to sell their own
warped theories to the revolutionary masses. Maoists should guard
against these kind of "defenders" of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya.
In Turkey the
reactionary regime continues a reign of terror over the masses of
people and the revolutionary forces. The followers of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya,
forces of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, continue
to be hunted and pursued and large numbers of comrades have been
martyred or imprisoned. Nevertheless the reactionary rule is far
from solid. Indeed, their terror is a response to their isolation
from the masses. The situation in the region, despite the existence
of reactionary regimes everywhere, is increasingly favourable for
the people's struggle for liberation. The reactionary regime can
and will be defeated! Continuing forward along the path charted
by Ibrahim Kaypakkaya is essential to bringing about this long-awaited
victory.
Comrade Ibrahim
Kaypakkaya did not live to see the great advance and great victory
for the world proletariat that is represented by the creation of
the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. The Revolutionary Internationalist
Movement, together with other Maoist forces, are the inheritors
of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Tsetung, and the formation
of this Movement is a precious fruit of the struggle of the proletariat
and oppressed people throughout the world. The experience of the
proletariat and oppressed peoples of Turkey, of the struggle of
Ibrahim and of his successors, is reflected, along with the struggle
in different corners of the world, in the Declaration of the Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement to which the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist
is a signatory.
Today, even
while the imperialists and reactionaries celebrate the fall of the
social imperialist East bloc as the "death of communism", they cannot
deny that the Maoists are coming forward as the most resolute fighters
against their rotten system. The People's War in Peru led by the
Communist Party of Peru (PCP) and its Chairman Gonzalo is the most
advanced expression of this world-wide trend.
The Yankee
imperialists have helped their puppet Fujimori regime in Peru to
capture Chairman Gonzalo in hopes of decapitating this most important
revolutionary movement in today's world. But the Maoists and revolutionary
masses of the world and their allies boldly rose to this challenge.
The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement called upon all Maoists
and revolutionary masses to "Move Heaven and Earth to Defend the
Life of Chairman Gonzalo". As the Committee of the RIM said, "the
capture of Comrade Gonzalo is a bitter blow to the revolutionary
people the world over, and the danger to our comrade's life is extreme.
This attack is also a challenge, a call for us to stand up and successfully
prevent the reactionaries from taking the life of Chairman Gonzalo,
and, through struggle, hand his captors a big defeat. Defending
the life of Comrade Gonzalo means defending the right of the slaves
to rebel, it means defending the revolution and communism." The
Maoists the world over accepted the challenge that was thrown before
them. Today the battle-cry "Defend the Life of Chairman Gonzalo"
resounds on every continent and a worldwide mass movement has developed
and prominently so in Turkey. In this light, it is important to
note the crucial work carried out by the International Emergency
Committee to Defend the Life of Abimael Guzman. In arresting Chairman
Gonzalo, the imperialists and reactionaries have picked up a big
rock to hurl against the people but an increasing number of people
are fighting to force them to drop the big rock on thier own feet.
This year the
whole Revolutionary Internationalist Movement is celebrating the
Mao Tsetung Centenary. The Committee of the RIM called upon the
parties and organizations of this movement and all revolutionary
masses to celebrate Mao's Centenary in an unforgettable way and
use this occasion to carry out a powerful ideological counter-offensive
against the anti-communist offensive of the imperialists and reactionaries.
Comrade Kaypakkaya
not only was the most resolute defender in Turkey of Mao Tsetung,
but he also was quick to grasp the world historic importance of
the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and the development of
the science of Marxism-Leninism to a new and higher stage, carried
out by Mao Tsetung.
The most important
way of honouring the memory of Comrade Kaypakkaya is by persevering
and advancing along the revolutionary road. Marxist-Leninist-Maoist
ideology is the basic compass which charts the road ahead. It is
this basic orientation that is embodied by the Declaration of the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement. By persevering on this
path, strengthening the unity of the proletariat on a world scale
as well as its contingents in each country, we can march ahead victoriously!
Long
live the memory of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya!
Move
heaven and earth to defend the life of Chairman Gonzalo!
Celebrate
the Mao Centenary in an Unforgettable Way!
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