TURKEY: Communists say “Hands off Syria”

The Communist Party of Turkey accuses Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of the right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP) of, for the past eight years, doing the dirty work of imperialism in Syria.”

PORTUGAL: CP warns of imperialist intrigues in Syria

The Portuguese Communist Party points out that the recent Turkish invasion of Northern Syria, and the role of U.S. President Donald Trump in the matter, must be seen in wider historical and geopolitical context. “At a time when several governments and institutions hypocritically try to give an appearance of disassociation from this new military aggression against Syria, the PCP [Portuguese Communist Party] recalls the complicity of the European Union and the active participation of its major powers—particularly France and the United Kingdom –in the continuous subversions, aggressions and crimes in the Middle East, starting with Syria….The PCP alerts to the involvement of the Trump administration in complex maneuvers of conspiracy, of which its stand on this aggression is an integral part, and the danger that it could be part of a larger operation aimed at freeing thousands of terrorists from the so-called “Daesh” and other groups, recycling them for further acts of aggression in the Middle East…”

The Portuguese Communist Party further states that only through respect for international law and for the sovereignty of Syria can such aggression be stopped.

CYPRUS: AKEL praises statesmanlike stance of Turkish Cypriot leader

Sefanos Stefanou, a member of the Politburo of AKEL, the communist party of Cyprus, has praised Mr. Mustafa Akinci, the President of the Turkish sector of the island, for taking a courageous statesmanlike stance with regard to the Turkish invasion of Northern Syria and toward the possibilities of uniting Cyprus, which has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974.

AKEL supports a full reunification of Cyprus under one democratic government with full rights for both the Greek and Turkish Cypriot ethnic groups. This puts it at odds with extreme nationalists of both groups on the island, as well as Greek nationalists in Greece and Turkish nationalists in Turkey, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan . Akinci advocates the same unitary position that AKEL does, and he has also criticized the Turkish military invasion of Northern Syria.

ARMENIA: Communists denounce Turkish invasion of Syria



The Communist Party of Armenia stated that the Turkish invasion of Northern Syria has been “catastrophic”. Among the civilian population sectors threatened by the Turkish action is the ethnic Armenian community, which has already been hit hard by violence from some of the terrorist groups that have been fighting, with Turkish and U.S. support, to overthrow the government of Syria’s President Assad. As a small, mostly Christian minority group in Syria, the Armenians are targeted for their religion, and since the Syrian Civil War started, many have fled to the Republic of Armenia. The Armenian communists even raise the possibility of a repeat of the Armenian genocide of 1915, when many killings took place in what is now Syria.

The Communist Party of Armenia calls upon the “international community and progressive forces across the world to voice their rejection of Turkey’s invasion and to mobilize all their power to stop the illegal occupation of Syrian territories and prevent the escalation of the invasion in order to protect the Syrian population”.

FRANCE: French CP rejects Turkish attack on Kurds in Syria

Fabien Roussel, National Secretary of the French Communist Party, has published an open letter to his country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, denouncing the Turkish invasion of Northern Syria. Roussel points out that the Turkish action is in violation of international law, and “This Turkish general offensive could bring about grave humanitarian consequences, a resurgence of Daesh (the Islamic State or ISIS) in the area..” Rousell’s note further warns that the Turkish government will pursue ethnic cleansing in the area it is occupying, as well as territorial expansion by Turkey. It could reignite the war in Syria and promote the resurgence of terrorism, as indicated by the fact that 800 extremist prisoners in the area have already been able to escape from detention. The situation could get completely out of control.

Roussel points out that Turkey, like France, is a NATO member country, and therefore the French Communist Party demands a parliamentary debate about the role of France in NATO.

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