First Congress of the Maoist Communist Party of Turkey

Revolutionary Worker #1187, February 16, 2003, posted at http://rwor.org

Document from: First Congress of the Maoist Communist Party 
(Formerly the Communist Party of Turkey [Marxist-Leninist])

By the International Bureau, MKP

"We have had several Conferences before
But this Congress is the first in the history of our Party"

This First Congress concluded with the victory of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism... The documents of the Congress will be presented to the proletariat and the oppressed peoples of the world; to the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, the embryonic centre of the international communist movement today; and to all the Maoist parties and organisations and other revolutionary forces. This statement will briefly report some of the results of the Congress.

The title will attract the interest of all our comrades and the revolutionary masses. First of all, let's explain this point briefly.

The Maoist Communist Party [MKP] is the ideological, political and organisational continuation of the Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) [TKP(ML)], which was founded in April 1972 under the leadership of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, and was a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. It represents a new stage in our Maoist understanding in the theoretical and practical spheres, based on analysing 30 years of experience in our Party's history using the method of two-line struggle.

Communism is our final goal. From the beginning we have been openly declaring our ideas about this goal and the ways of achieving it. The state will be overthrown by force, just as it has been throughout history. This is a universal law of revolution. Our Party is fighting for a society without classes. New- democratic revolution is our minimum program. Advancing towards socialism continuously, without stopping, continuing the revolution till communism with Great Proletarian Cultural Revolutions again and again, this is our Maoist understanding. New-democratic revolution and socialism are the stages that we pass through because of historical necessity, they are not the final goal. So the name of our Party should certainly include our final goal, communism.

We should draw a bold, sharp line separating us from every kind of modern, dogmatic revisionism, those spuriously using a communist label. Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM) is the common, universal ideology guiding the march of the international proletariat towards communism. Communism cannot be reached inside any "national" borders. Communism will be won by the international proletariat world-wide and all together.

Of course, in this common march, the proletariat of each link in this chain will primarily settle accounts with its own ruling classes. Proletarian internationalism demands making revolution in each country in the service of communism. The proletarian revolutions, which differ in form due to tasks that differ according to concrete conditions, are international in essence. Wherever a proletarian organisation is, it is MLM that leads it. Proletarian internationalism is the essence of the struggle of the proletariat at every link. Differences arising from the concrete circumstances conditioning the tasks at every link are formal. At each link the proletariat is organised as a platoon of the world proletariat. It is of course not wrong to indicate the political geography of a party within its name, but nor is this absolutely necessary.

Maoism is not separate from Marxism-Leninism (ML), but is a qualitatively new stage of it. ML can neither be adopted nor defended without Maoism.... Adding Maoism to the name of the communist party is especially important. It is the cutting edge. The Congress has changed the name "TKP(ML)" to "Maoist Communist Party." While doing this, it has underlined that it indicates and declares that the MKP is the continuation of the TKP(ML), as well as advancing and deepening on a Maoist basis.

As is well known, the name of the Army led by our Party was the Workers and Peasants Liberation Army of Turkey ("TIKKO"). The worker-peasant (especially poor peasant) alliance under the leadership of the proletariat is the axis of our policy on revolutionary alliances. In addition, our revolutionary army will include other forces of the people, too. The name of our Army has been changed to People's Liberation Army ("HKO"). It was decided that the name of our youth organisation, formerly the Marxist-Leninist Youth Association of Turkey ("TMLGB"), will be the Maoist Youth Association ("MGB"), in accordance with the name of our Party.

Our science reached the level of Maoism with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Even though at each link the Maoist generation faced different economic, political and social conditions, it was born under the decisive influence of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. If there were no Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, that is, Maoism, there would be no TKP(ML) nor any other genuine Maoist communist parties. So-called communist parties would exist, and so-called ML could have been adopted and defended, but it would have been impossible to be Maoist. Proletarian parties are not simply the fruit of the objective conditions alone. The proletariat is the objective basis of the communist party. But objective conditions do not automatically give rise to a communist party, which is a conscious, subjective element. Because of their nature, vulgar materialists and economists fail to understand this. The communist party cannot be considered to be established without creating the concrete road and the leading line of the revolution, which means arming itself with Maoism, the universal common ideology of the international proletariat, and creatively applying it to each part of the world. Our Party was born amidst the rapid spread of the works of our science and the heroic struggles of the people, particularly the working class of our country, and it was a product of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Comrade Kaypakkaya pointed out this reality. Without being armed with MLM, objective facts alone would never automatically and directly lead to a communist party. The TKP(ML) was the monument of MLM, achieved with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

The Maoist Communist Party, which represents the continuation and advance of the TKP(ML), is consciously aware of the fact that it was created by Maoism and the path of Kaypakkaya, our general strategic-political line, that is the application of Maoism to the concrete conditions of Turkey and north Kurdistan.

Marxism today cannot be a repetition of Marx. Nor can Leninism be represented and applied as a repetition of Lenin. The science of the proletariat is a living, vigorous weapon. It is neither static nor a dogma, but a guide to action. Without being a Maoist, one cannot be a communist. Being a communist cannot be limited only to the defence of the dictatorship of the proletariat any more. This is a lesson of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Class struggle continues during the whole period of socialism because classes continue to exist. The class struggle between the proletariat and bourgeoisie is a fact during the entire period of socialism. This is not some arbitrary choice, but a necessity arising out of the reality of socialism, which can never be analysed without classes and the bourgeoisie. To advance the proletarian revolution continuously till communism under the power of proletarian cultural revolution represents the summit of the collective experience of the international proletariat today.

Maoism arose in the course of relying on ML. However, it is not a vulgar repetition of ML. It brought our science to a new qualitative stage, based on the specific analysis of what was actually happening. Maoism pointed to the need for cultural revolutions, which are of universal significance in the march to communism. Maoism is the main point to be grasped. Our historical experiences have shown that deviations on this point have led to splits.

Left and right lines followed by Party leaderships and an inability to genuinely integrate Maoism have led to splits and deviations from the MLM basis that our Party was founded on. All past crises have arisen due to departing from MLM, not to MLM itself. Grasping, understanding and applying MLM is the principal aspect. If this is not done, discussing this or that mistake or result and even taking some correct and positive steps will not be enough to reach a radical solution. The main question is Maoism. The Party and masses cannot be armed through a struggle on results instead of on the main issue.

The First Congress has deepened our understanding of our guiding ideology, MLM. On this basis, this has led to a strong movement by the Party to settle accounts and expose our mistakes and the reasons for them. The First Congress has doomed centrist eclecticism. It has adopted and confirmed the scientific criticisms of Stalin and the Comintern made by Comrade Mao Tsetung. It has exposed the common basis of modern and dogmatic revisionism that takes up the faults of Comrade Stalin, the teacher of the international proletariat, while rejecting his principally scientific immortal doctrine. Maoism has completely raised the level of ML to a new third stage, and represents the new qualitative contributions by Comrade Mao Tsetung to the proletarian science. Marxism, Leninism and Maoism are not separate from each other. Our science has reached the stage of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism on the basis of class struggle, production and scientific experiment, and, through the synthesis of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, has proved a scientific guide as the ideology of the proletariat.

The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) represents a qualitative step forward in the march towards the new communist international. It has been built on the basis of MLM. In conditions today, RIM is the embryonic centre of the international communist movement. RIM is not a coalition, but instead has been making qualitative contributions to the struggle to create a new communist international on the basis of two-line struggle, on a Maoist basis, together with all the MLM forces. This is in an effort to put MLM in command of the emerging new wave of proletarian world revolution by people's wars.

In practice RIM is raising the banner of people's war, with participants like the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Communist Party of Peru, and the Maoist Communist Party, along with the Communist Party of India (ML, Naxalbari), Maoist Communist Centre (India) and Communist Party of Iran (MLM), and with its other forces as well. It is trying to unite with other MLM forces on a Maoist basis, which can be seen in the practice of CCOMPOSA in South Asia. It is an important experience to fight against the enemy in close headquarters alongside MLM forces, whilst continuing the two-line struggle.

Our Congress salutes the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, under the leadership of Comrade Bob Avakian, which, in the heart of the centre of world counter-revolution, the imperialist USA, is raising the flag of proletarian internationalism and persevering in the fight for communism. To our class detachments in Colombia, the comrades of the Revolutionary Communist Group, and in Afghanistan, the Communist Party of Afghanistan, and to the Maoist Communist Party in Italy as well as revolutionary Maoists in Germany and Mexico and elsewhere, we send our salutes.

The Declaration of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement,which announced RIM's formation in 1984, with our Party as one of the founding participants, is an MLM document. Some of its weaknesses were corrected by Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!Our Congress, which has confirmed the MLM character of the RIM documents, has also pointed out the importance of the need to handle the two-line struggle in a comradely way in accordance with the rules and organisational principles of RIM. It has gone over the relevant faults of our Party by self-criticism.

The letters from the Committee of RIM and Comrade Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN(M)], have given added meaning to our Congress. It has given serious consideration to the experiences of RIM, learnt from them and grown stronger. Our First Congress gives the proletarian internationalist salute of our Party to all the participating parties and organisations of RIM and to other MLM forces, via the Committee of RIM. It declares that it considers the flag of the glorious People's War led by the CPN(Maoist) as its own flag. It shares the enthusiasm of the 24 September [1992] speech by Chairman Gonzalo, and declares its determined struggle against the imprisonment and isolation of Comrade Gonzalo by the ruling classes and dooms the right opportunist, liquidationist and capitulationist lines wherever they are.

As a contingent of the international proletariat, our Party insists on making the contributions needed to make the twenty-first century become the Century of Maoism and Maoist-led people's wars.

People's war is one of the vital weapons given to the oppressed by Comrade Mao Tsetung, who also made qualitative contributions to our science in philosophy, political economy and socialism. The scientific character of the strategy of surrounding the cities from the countryside in the oppressed countries has been proven in practice. Nor is this Mao's only contribution to the proletariat's military science. His development of other principles is also a great treasure: people are the main factor in revolutionary war; the starting point is relying on the masses; the Party's leadership is the principal aspect; the principle of self- reliance; the decisive importance of a correct political and ideological line, and especially the question of the new political power; and revolutionary violence as a law without exception, as indispensable to seizing political power, which is the main law of every revolution.

Our First Congress has challenged spontaneity, which is contrary to the spirit of people's war, and learnt from the experiences of Nepal and Peru, which reflect a great application of the ideological and political contributions of Mao in practice. It has pointed out the Tactic of Advancing with Deliberation, with a Strategic War Plan.

There are some people who believe that because of the tactical superiority of imperialism, its great advantage in weapons and technology and its bloody suppression operations, it is impossible to wage people's war. This is total nonsense. It is a fact that the "global" imperialist system has made the world smaller. But contrary to these claims, technological advances and the extreme centralisation of capital have been deepening class differences, not eliminating them. Imperialism has been globalising poverty, preparing a more favourable arena for revolution and helping bring about a more mature material base for the struggle and advance to communism. It has become clearer today that Asia, Africa and Latin America are the storm centres of revolution. This is related to the principal contradiction of the world, that is, the contradiction between imperialism and the oppressed peoples and nations.

Chairman Mao's saying that "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun" is a universal principle. The line of submission put forth by the theoreticians of "productive forces," which is ultimately based on weapons and technology, and proclaims that "imperialism cannot be defeated," can be crushed with a scientific understanding of the principles of the Maoist Communist Party and by relying on the masses.

Revolution does not automatically arise from some particular level of development of the productive forces. We must rupture with Second International opportunism, which revises revolution. What is needed is the practice of Mao. This practice calls for taking class struggle as principal. We salute Maoism, which calls not for technical cadres, weapons and experts, but instead for the correct line, the Party and the masses.

The Party is a unity of opposites. Two-line struggle is an undeniable reality of the Party. Adopting and practising two-line struggle does not mean rejecting that the Party will be directed by a single centre. In a Maoist Party, power cannot be a justification for ruling by the cane, but nor can opposition be a justification for splitting.

Our Congress has doomed every kind of eclectic international line. Our Congress, which has a line of unity with the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, has pointed out that exercising this line should be based on two-line struggle and Maoism. It has underlined the importance of carrying out the discussions based on the principles of two-line struggle between communist forces. It has stressed the Maoist line, with particular emphasis on the policy of unity on Maoist principles. The splits in the history of our Party can only be overcome by Maoism. Our Congress has raised the flag of understanding, helping understanding and applying Maoism.

The path of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was the basis of the programmatic views of our Party. On this basis our Congress has announced our Party Programme. It has renewed the Statutes of the Party, overcoming their weaknesses. It has deepened our understanding of questions of ideology, general strategic political and military line and programme.

Our First Congress has made a serious evaluation of the current situation in the world and our country--Turkey and north Kurdistan--and particularly in the Middle East. It has put forward a plan for our tasks.

Afghanistan was invaded as part of the U.S.'s strategic plan for global hegemony. Iraq is also included in the U.S.'s plan of intervention, based on its rich oil resources and strategic importance. The Turkish and Israeli states are the regional gendarmes of the U.S. Our Congress has exposed these reactionary imperialist strategies. It has pointed out the importance of the unity of the international proletariat, the oppressed peoples and nations under the flag of world proletarian revolution.

"Globalisation" is not something qualitatively different from imperialism, the world-wide organisation of capitalism, even though imperialism has been deepened in comparison with the past. The continuously intensifying and expanding dynamic of capitalism has transformed the needs of the more concentrated world-wide capitalist system, and led to brutal applications. Integration with the imperialist centres and "privatisation" are its concrete policies. These have deepened the crisis of capitalism. The crisis is not local, but strikes the whole world. The macroeconomic policies of the IMF and the World Bank represent the direct interventions of imperialism. The basic contradictions of imperialism have been deepening more and more. The principal contradiction world-wide, between imperialism and the oppressed peoples and nations, has been deepening.

Neither the class struggle nor revolution are mere "history", but the motor driving advance.

This crisis is being further intensified by the world-wide sovereignty plan of the U.S.

The only solution to the crisis is world proletarian revolution.

The imperialist "New World Order", which is no different in essence from the "old" one, is giving rise to a wave of revolution of the oppressed. The U.S. sovereignty plan is not only intensifying the contradictions with the oppressed, but also leading to sharper conflict between the rival imperialists. The crisis of imperialism throws oil on the fire of the inter-imperialist contradictions.

Revolution is the main trend.

The Maoist Communist Party, fully conscious of this situation, raises the flag of world proletarian revolution.

We believe that all comrades will understand how difficult it is to present a full report of all the documents of our Congress--which has achieved an MLM synthesis of 30 years of experience in our Party's history--in this brief summary. As already mentioned, the Congress documents--Ideology, General Political and Military Line, Programme, Historical Evaluation, Historical Lessons of the International Communist Movement, International Line and RIM, Leadership and Cadre Policy, National Question, Unity Policy of Maoists, Evaluation of the Current Situation in the World and in Turkey and North Kurdistan, and Our Tasks--will be presented for review by the comrades and masses.

Higher levels of unity will be achieved using the method of two-line struggle, and our tasks will be carried out in the service of world revolution, with a spirit of leaping forward on a Maoist basis.

The red flag that is flying over Mount Sagarmatha [Everest] and the Andes, the Himalayas and the Philippines, is our own flag! It is the same flag that flies in Turkey and north Kurdistan, over the Munzur mountains. The road is tortuous but the future is bright. Because we have MLM, we have revolutionary masses. This is the reason for our enthusiasm and our hope.

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