-Turkey's generals: defending the 'Free World' A MAJOR confrontation between Solidarity and the Polish authorities seems imminent. In union movement. And the Soviet leaders sent their toughest warning yet to the Polish Communist Party demanding immediate radical action against Solidarity's campaign.
But the struggle for workers' democracy in solidarity from the British laDoul movelicil Michael Foot and Denis Healey were in Moscow politely discussing the arms race the day the Kremlin's threatening letter reached The Labour left too has come under fire for its weak LINe Polish workers. The establishment Dress right wing union leaders llave alackcu le colON FRIDAY 12 September 1980, in the early hours of the morning, tanks and armoured had already arrested an estimated 15,000 people, dissolved parliament, outlawed the right to strike, political parties. It has been a bloody twelve months since then.
Repression has reached levels rarely seen in countries which are not actually fascist dictatorships. The forces in the Middle East have been tipped in favour of the with one alleged anti-Soviet paigns for democracy in the labour He SI being sham democracy compared In the televised debate on Panorama John Silkin felt able to accuse the Benn campaign giving 'glimpse of Stalinism'.
What are the Polish workers fighting for, and should the whole labour movement. left wing particularly, support tem!
Poland is supposed to be a 'communist' society.
main cop in the region.
The coup in vehicles movement.
reversal: and shut down all Banned.
surance of the Socialist International. Labour warmongers as It is true that Polish capitalism was overthrown, bringing enormous gains to the workers and peasants, but there the similarity communism ends There is a large ruling bureaucracy linked into the Soviet bureaucracy with it own material privileges over the rest of society. Most im. portantly this bureaucracy wields complete of DOLLA power through the ComParty and repressive apparatus to defend the status quo.
This system denies the mass of the working people any political rights or independent organisation.
At least that was the case until historic struggles leading to me tornabor or e -dependent movement, Solidarity.
Turkey has replaced Iran as Uncle Sam's Turkey demonstrated once again that NATO is not only a vehicle for the Reagan/Thatcher war drive, but an instrument to repress the workers' The militant labour moveTurkey has suffered a severe Trade unions and all political parties and professional associations have been them the Republican Peoples Party (RPP), the sister party o)
Party, affiliated the The Labour national executive took to independent tion the Polish workers have begun to systematically demand the complete democratisation of society They have insisted on an end to the censorship of the media which attempts stifle all opposition. because one continual slander campaigns against in the official media, Solidarity demanded the right to its own journals. and recently, to its own TV network.
Media They have not insisted on the shutting down of the state media or other papers with which they disagree, but for an extension of the media to the union movements WILl their undoubted mass supSimilarly Solidarity has now called for free elec tions and the ending of the an important symbolic step in inviting Bulent Ecevit, the former leader of the RPP, to this year's party conference. But we must take steps which are not only symbolic.
The lies in the capitalist press about Turkey's benign and inclined Generals should be combatted. There needs to be a campaign for an end to the hangings, for freedom for political parties and the release of trade unionists. That's the best way to contribute to saying the lives of our sisters and brothers in Turkey.
In particular the Turkey Solidarity Campaign urges supporters It has not asked for the banning of the ruling Communist Party, but for extension democracy that the Polish workers can freely choose between all political currents.
At their recent congress Solidarity approved resolution calling workers' selfhe right to hire and fire including the right to the tactory director. nor. mally appointed by the ruling party.
E. 'communist'
societies the workers are told that they own the fạctories. So with a massive economic crisis and pro ven bureaucratic corruption and mismanagement it is an inevitable consequence of the right of independent organisation that the workers should demand to run the factories themselves.
And on every front Labour Party to democraticallyin Ankara.
Turkey Solidarity Hotel in Brighton.
Solidarity has opposed the privileges ot the ruling tempts to keep all post- and tions of power in society through the partynominated lists. undemocratic "nomenklatura' system.
The direction Solidarity's development towards the overthrow of the whole ruling bureaucracy in Poland and its system workers' democracy at every level.
socialists fear that this mass , movemen has reactionary goals, like the capitalism, especially when they establishment supporting Solidarity.
We have no illusions in the right wing press. They will be the first to suggest 'moderation' to the Polish workers rather than see a real workers' democracy come into existence. They jumped on the bandwagon try and discredit sucausu and comBut that should not blind us to the fact that the Polish workers struggle best advertisement for socialism we have had back the campaign against the deportation from this country of Dogan Tarkan, a socialist newspaper editor. The Labour NEC should support a joint Labour Party/trade union delegation to observe the trials of the DISK trade union leaders currently underway For information on Turkey contact the Campaign, BM Box 5965, London WCIN 3XX - why not affiliate to the campaign? Labour conference fringe meeting on Turkey is or Thursday I October, 12.30pm in the Ship Socialist Challenge for years. The workers are calling for return to capitalism but TO thorough-going workers' democracy.
For y cal s workers throughout the world have been presented choice: capitalism Stalinism. The Polish workers are struggling for third alternative: socialist democracy The labour movement faces greate problems, not the least of which that a crisis. wracked capitalism is still well and truly with us. The search for radical policies to tackle this crisis has been coupled with a fight for increased democracy within the labour ment, especially the The Labour left should draw the lessons trom the Polish workers. They have found at each stage thel gains have been threatened without a thorough-going democratisation of all the institutions of society.
The Labour left has to couple its campaign for party democracy demands for the extension of democratic rights and workers' democracy to all spheres of society.
More importantly, the Polish workers' appeal to the workers of the Soviet bloc showed that they realised the importance of international solidarity for the success of their own struggle The Labour left should take the lead. hypocrites in the establishment press and the right wing union leaders, championing the cause of the Polish workers and building concrete international solidarity them.
The success Polish workers in establishing democracy would be hundred times more effer. tive than conterence resolutions in winning thi battle for Labour move. ment democrac Britain. 24 September 1961 Page i1
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the past week the ruling Politburo has accused Solidarity of fomenting bloodshed, member even demanding the banning of the
rolled into Turkey's major cities. Three days later, the new ruling junta