Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s hotly contested re-election highlights the country's internal crisis and its unstable position between imperialist super-powers. Erdogan's victory signifies a shift away from liberal democracy toward fascistic consolidation by Turkey’s ruling class. With Erdogan’s U.S.-backed opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, failing in the runoff, it also reflects waning U.S. influence in a critical geopolitical region.
Runaway inflation (up to 84 percent last October), two devastating earthquakes, and a ballooning migrant crisis have put the Turkish economy on the brink of collapse. To contain workers’ anger, the Turkish capitalist bosses are using Erdogan—now entering his third decade in power—to impose tighter control over the media, the judiciary, and a mostly powerless Turkish parliament. Since surviving a 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan has seized more executive power, sidelined political opponents, purged large sections of the government and military, and arrested hundreds of protesters (Al Jazeera, 7/15/22).
The struggles facing the working class in Turkey are a sobering reminder of the limitations and illusions of capitalist elections. The Progressive Labor Party is working to build communist working-class consciousness that rejects the dead end of electoral politics. By organizing and mobilizing the working class, we can build a revolutionary movement that smashes capitalism and builds a society to serve the needs of the international working class.
Liberals are the main danger
Opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his Republican People’s Party painted themselves as champions of social reforms, the liberal alternative to the authoritarian Erdogan and his ultra-nationalist Justice and Development Party. But in a desperate move to defeat the incumbent, Kilicdaroglu won the endorsement of the gutter-racist, third-party candidate, Umit Ozdag, by promising to kick out millions of Syrian refugees (Turkish Minute, 5/24). Kilicdaroglu charged that Erdogan had failed to “protect Turkey’s honor or borders” (Al Jazeera, 5/22). Both Kilicdaroglu and Erdogan accused the other of colluding with “terrorists,” which translates to a push for more racist oppression of Kurdish workers.
In recent years, more workers in Turkey have been misled by these divisive racist appeals. Under the ruthless profit system, a society that creates a handful of winners and masses of losers, a lack of revolutionary class consciousness makes the working class vulnerable to racist and fascist ideas. In a volatile period with surging economic insecurity, liberal racists and open racists alike aim to exploit the frustrations of the working class and to channel their justifiable rage into scapegoating other workers. The liberals are especially dangerous in diverting class struggle away from the communist fight for state power and back to the straitjacket of voting.
Trapped in the middle
A critical bridge between Europe and Asia, Turkey under Erdogan is struggling to balance its own nationalist ambitions with the competing imperialists in Russia and the United States. The country has positioned itself as a major player in the region surrounding the Mediterranean and Black seas. It has recently pivoted toward Russia for military support and has engaged in negotiations to become a hub for a Russian gas pipeline (Al Jazeera, 10/14/22). But with its economy in shambles, Turkey will need more financial help from the United States and the European Union—or whoever else is willing to sign a big check.
After claiming neutrality in the war in Ukraine and acting to block Sweden from joining NATO, Erdogan may need to make concessions to get loans from the World Bank and prop up Turkey’s collapsing economy (Bloomberg, 2/9). To get financing from the International Monetary Fund, he will need to raise interest rates and impose austerity measures that will impoverish and starve millions.
As the big powers lurch toward the next world war, workers in Turkey seem likely to be trapped in the middle.
Fight for communism!
The plight of workers in Turkey cries out for more than mere reforms or empty promises by the rulers’ politicians. Workers need a revolutionary communist movement that exposes the root causes of workers’ economic, political, and social struggles, and that builds international class solidarity. Workers need an organization that fights for a society free from imperialist exploitation, racism, and sexism. By uniting under the revolutionary communist Progressive Labor Party, workers in Turkey can pave the way for genuine liberation and a brighter future for all. Join us as we organize this international communist movement!