Stand by the toiling people of Tunisia!

The following statement, "Stand by the toiling people of Tunisia!" was issued this week by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey.

The Communist Party of Turkey declares its solidarity and support to the ongoing popular revolt against the dictatorship of Zain Al‑Abidin Bin Ali and his regime based on unemployment, poverty, political oppression and state terror.

The Communist Party of Turkey stands by the revolt, which calls itself the "intifada of the poor", and the progressive, revolutionary forces leading the movement, and calls all workers, the poor and the progressive forces of Turkey to support the revolt.

The dictatorial practices of the Bin Ali regime are not unique, neither in the world nor in the Middle East and the Arabic world. Unfortunately, regimes based on lawlessness, police and military terror and plunder of the values created by the toiling people cannot be seen as "singular" cases in our world and our region which has been living under the tyranny of imperialism for decades. The rapid outstretch of the flag unfurled by the toiling people of Tunisia against the Bin Ali regime to other countries in the region marks how common the problems are.

In order to maintain its hegemony in all territories, imperialism gives support to many dictators like Bin Ali. Yet, the same imperialism is also shifting its support rapidly whenever such political figures fail to serve its interests further or become a hindrance to its hegemony. It is evident that such imperialist manipulations have played a role in the events ongoing in Tunisia.

In this respect, the revelation of the former commander of general staff Rashed Ammar, receiving instructions minute by minute from the U.S. embassy after the events broke out, is just an example of such manipulation attempts. Likewise, the intrigues to plant a "new" government that will brag about the so‑called "democratization" of the country while pursuing the same pro‑market and Americanist policies with the Bin Ali regime can be seen in this context as well.

However, the "intifada of the poor" has given this game away. The revolt of the people and the struggle of the progressive forces rendered the temporary government obsolete, which hastily strives to hold an election without taking any significant step towards a genuine change, and in which the officers of Bin Ali actively take part. Moreover, the demands and actions of the progressive forces against looting events that are intentionally organized to undermine the legitimacy of the people's movement circumvented the acts of imperialism and the capitalist rule in Tunisia.

In the heart of the events in Tunisia, there lies the deep exploitation and inequality, unemployment and poverty, lawlessness and corruption, political oppression and terror. The consciousness of large masses is not blurred in the sense that all of these causes are valid in the entire region and especially in our country. The Communist Party of Turkey considers standing by the toiling masses of Tunisia as a requirement of challenging the dictatorship of Justice and Development Party that has been established step by step in Turkey; as a requirement of challenging the imperialist hegemony and capitalist rule. Hence, our party calls our working people to support the revolt of the Tunisian people for this cause as well.

We declare our support to the demands of the progressive forces of Tunisia, which can be fully realized only through a change of the social order. We support the demands to immediately prosecute those responsible for the killing of the protestors, to establish a genuinely new and legitimate government composed of the representatives of the workers and the poor, to remove all barriers before the organization of the people.

Long live the intifada of the poor!

Long live socialism!

Communist Party of Turkey - Central Committee