HDK’s Middle East Conference Concludes with Declaration

The "Middle East Conference" organized by the People's Democratic Congress (HDK) at Istanbul's Bosphorus University between Sept. 20 and 21 ended with a 13 point declaration regarding the developments in the region.  

Various representatives and party officials from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Germany attended the conference that lasted for five sessions through the weekend.

Foti Benlisoy (Turkey, academic,) Mohamed Waked (Egypt, academic and activist), Hamma Hammami, (Tunisian Workers' Party) Lhoussain Lahnnaoui (Morocco, Democratic Path Party,) Erhan Keleşoğlu (Turkey, academic,) Meryem Ebu Dakka - (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,) Ali Selman (Lebanon Communist Party,) Ahmed Ebu Suud Hanini (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,) Ali Fayyad (Lebanon, Hezbollah,) Mehmet Bekaroğlu (Turkey, academic,) Bahiga Hussei (Egyptian Communist Party,) Radia Nasravi (Tunisia, deputy) and Erhard Crome (Germany, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation) took the floor on the first day of the conference.

The second day kicked off with an opening speech by Sebahat Tuncel, the Istanbul deputy of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP.)

"Missing the crux of the problem"

İnam Elmasri from the Syrian Communist Party said the opposition in Syria was supported by imperialist forces and that the western press and the Qatar-based Arab broadcasting station Al-Jazeera were distorting the facts in the country, adding that they were defending Syria's territorial integrity instead.

Nermin Osman, a YNK deputy from southern Kurdistan, also delivered a speech that led to some dispute among the Arab participants in the conference. Osman was criticized for the southern Kurdistani administration's collaboration with the United States during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 after he spoke about the Arabs' silence in the face of all the cruelty and oppression that befell upon the Kurds and their muted response to the Halabja massacre during the First Gulf War.

"[They] are trying to squeeze the debate on Syria into an equation with [either al-Assad on one hand or the Free Syrian Army on the other.] This is causing us to miss the crux of the problem. The real issue is to support the egalitarian, libertarian and progressive movements in the region and to prevent Turkey from intervening there, as well as supporting the Kurds' gains in the area... The United States and Europe are quite content to load all the burden of the proxy war in Syria on Turkey. Turkey caused grave harm there by positioning the opposition next to the Free Syrian Army rather than [attempting to] unite all the opposition. What we need to do is to unite the struggles for freedom," the Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) Mersin Deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü also commented.

The declaration

The resulting declaration stressed the following points:

-The participants affirm the progressive and democratic contents of the Arab uprising which at its core aspires to justice, freedom and bread for all peoples.

-Our conference is in agreement that the struggle of the peoples in the Middle East and North Africa targets the neo-liberal policies of imperialism and the local dominant classes which lead to unemployment and deepening poverty, as well as the autocratic regimes that serve as a means to impose these policies on the people.

-Our conference draws attention to the new tactics and policies of the imperialists who wish to sustain their dominance over these countries following the fall of Bin Ali and Mubaraq who used to govern Tunisia and Egypt in accordance with the imperialists' interests. At the same time, the conference expresses its support for the people who are striving to continue the revolution and to create a free and just society.

-Major western powers are trying to expand their influence across the entire region by finding new collaborators, especially among Islamic movements that identify with neo-liberal policies.

-Major western powers are now trying different methods in Syria after openly intervening in Libya based on a rhetoric of "democracy" and "fighting against oppression."

-Turkey sits at the center of all plans to intervene in Syria, as the strength of the al-Assad regime combined with the support it receives from Iran, Russia and China deters western imperialists from engaging in open conflict. Turkey must immediately abandon this policy and shut down all NATO bases in its territory.

-The government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey is arming and organizing the armed gangs in Syria under the name of the "Free Syrian Army" and the "Syrian National Council" while providing bases, training, logistics and managerial coordination for them.

-Our conference strongly condemns the prospects of a military intervention against Syria and Iran by Turkey, major western powers and the United States and announces its support for all efforts toward achieving a permanent and fair peace in the region.

-Our conference cautions the people against the policies of sectarianism in Syria followed by the United States, Turkey and other imperialist major powers. The people's interest lies in a popular, democratic and secular opposition rather than the dichotomy of al-Assad versus an imperialist intervention.

-Our conference announces its support for mass action by the people rather than acts that are disconnected from the people and which help to suppress true opposition by the people. To this end, our conference also announces its backing for the Kurds' struggle to for self-determination and autonomy in west Kurdistan, as well as the Palestinian people's liberation struggle against Israeli Zionism. We recognize that Israel's unconditional evacuation of occupied Palestinian lands and the recognition of Palestine as an independent and sovereign state with membership in the United Nations are in the interests of all the peoples of the region.

-All revolutionary and dissident democratic movements in the region should pay special heed to women's struggle for equality, freedom and liberation in view of the fact that all kinds of sexist repression and violence in the region bear a direct connection to the prevalent political and social circumstances there.

-Our conference regards the ongoing hunger strikes in Turkish jails as part of our people's struggle for freedom and democracy and identifies with the prisoners' demands.

-Our conference expresses its wish for the sustenance of organized efforts by all these peoples to unite their struggles and to take charge of their common destiny. (AS/HK)