The electoral speech of TKP General Secretary Kemal Okuyan for  May 14 elections, which was broadcast on the state television

13.05.2023 

https://www.tkp.org.tr/en/agenda/the-electoral-speech-of-tkp-general-secretary-kemal-okuyan-for-may-14-elections-which-was-broadcast-on-the-state-television/

Dear fellow citizens,  

I am addressing you on behalf of the Party of our great poet Nâzım Hikmet. Communist Party of Türkiye. T - K - P. 

You know, the Party of communists about whom all kinds of slander and lies have been fabricated for years. 

The party that the members of the ruling party point to when they are angry at something or someone, referring to as "these are communist ideas". 

Sir, stop shouting at people, don't look for communists in the wrong places. We are here, we are the Communist Party of Türkiye. 

We are proud to be communists. The fascist denies his fascism, the thief denies his theft, the bigot denies his bigotry, the collaborator of imperialism denies his collaborationism. 

We, on the other hand, speak proudly with our heads held high, we are communists. 

Why are we communists? 

Because we are conscientious, because we defend the good, the beautiful and the just. 

We want an order in which people do not exploit people. No one should live off the backs of others. Who can object to this? 

In our country, 42 per cent of the total wealth is in the hands of 1 percent of the population. We rebel against this great injustice. This injustice is at the root of the rising costs of living, poverty and unemployment. 

On the contrary, according to us, all wealth should belong to the whole society, to the people.  

When we say this, some people say that the communists will come and seize your car, your house, your phone, your computer, your necklace… 

We laugh. Are we stupid? Are we bad people? Have we gone crazy? 

Those who tell this lie have hundreds and thousands of houses and billion dollar accounts in banks. In order to maintain this rule, they are trying to defame us communists who say "people should be equal, everyone should live in wealth and prosperity, everyone should have a healthy and happy house to live in, electricity-natural gas-transportation-health services and education should be free". 

But keep in mind that this lie is no longer believed. TKP has become a party that breathes and grows all over Türkiye. We became the hope of the poor, working people, we became their wisdom, their conscience. 

Yes, brothers and sisters, TKP says that this social order in which the economy is in the hands of the market, that is, the private sector, that is, domestic and foreign monopolies, must change. Because these big companies only think of their own interests, they try every way to increase their profits. They are making huge profits in the current cost of living. The bills that we pay fill in the coffers of private electricity companies. The big food monopolies are the reason why we buy less and less fruit and vegetables every time we go to the market. It is because of them that we cannot even afford to buy potatoes and onions. 

Their wealth is our poverty. 

TKP favours a statist, socialist economy. If the industrial production, mines, banks, food industry, energy and similar sectors are in the hands of the people's state, there will be neither poverty nor corruption.  

We reject this irrational and immoral social order in which forests, coasts, streams, rivers and everything else is seized by looters. 

The solution lies in a statist, planned economy. 

TKP will do this. And we claim that we can revive Türkiye's economy in a short time. By planning, creating, producing, trusting the workers, intellectuals and people of Türkiye… 

We are communists. We want a secular country. Please listen to me carefully on this issue. No one can interfere in people's beliefs and worship. Freedom of belief and worship is a fundamental human right. Secularism defines the political sphere, the state organisation. Religion has to be outside politics and state affairs. This is secularism. Today, secularism is trampled underfoot. Cults and enemies of the Republic have abolished secularism. We will bring secularism back to its feet.

What else does the TKP want? An independent and sovereign country. An independent country means making our own economic, political and military decisions. The day TKP comes to power, we will leave the international terrorist organisation called NATO. We will close down the foreign bases in our country. 

How? If 100 years ago the poor Anatolian peasants, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal and his friends, stood up against the occupation and the palace, and challenged imperialism, we will do it again. 

Dear citizens, I would like to make you a short reminder. 

This is the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye. 

The Communist Party of Türkiye was founded in 1920, at the very time when the struggle was going on in Anatolia. Communists participated in the struggle for independence, many of them lost their lives in this struggle. 

In those years, the only country that supported our national liberation war was Soviet Russia, where communists were in power. They sent gold, arms and all kinds of support. Without this support, the national struggle would have been in danger. 

Why did they do it? 

I told you, communists are in favour of the good, the right and the beautiful. They are moral and conscientious people. 

Now we have an election ahead of us. 

There are more than ten thousand parliamentary candidates standing before our citizens. However, in Türkiye, people vote not for the candidate but for the list. In other words, they cast their votes for the party. 

A party means a party. A party is a political organisation where people with the same opinions on fundamental issues come together. 

But is this the case in Türkiye? 

Let’s look at the lists. 

On the list of the same party, there are those who defend "secularism" and bigots, at the same time… 

On the list of the same party, there are those who defend and those who criticise the AKP government's unlawful operations, such as the Ergenekon process. 

On the list of the same party, there are those who object to privatisation and those who are strict privatisers.

On the list of the same party, there are those who question NATO and those who are rabid NATO supporters. 

On the list of the same party, there are candidates who defend workers' rights, even a little bit, and there are candidates who are sycophants of capital and representatives of capitalists. 

On the list of the same party, there are those who support women's struggle for freedom and equality and there are those who are misogynists. 

On the list of the same party, there are candidates who are on the side of the victims of the Sivas massacre and those who are on the side of the perpetrators. 

In politics, even if you add or multiply the right with wrong, the result will be wrong. 

Labour and capital cannot be on the same side. 

Secularism and bigotry cannot be on the same side. 

Patriotism and pro-NATOism cannot be on the same side. 

If they appear on the same side, remember that the one who defends the “good” or the “right” is placed there in the role of an accessory, as a decorative item. 

TKP objects to this. This political culture is rotting our country.  

Citizens are told, "If you vote for X party, your vote will be wasted." This political culture is rotting our country.  

Citizens, if anyone tells you "if you vote for X party, your vote will be wasted", please respond to them as the following: “My vote is my will. Your alliances, your lists, your unprincipled propaganda do not match my will. I will not rot with you. I don't want my vote to go to waste. I have no vote to give to cultists, capitalist, US supporters.” Respond like this.  

I know that there are many citizens among you who handed over the solidarity materials you had prepared after the Maraş earthquake, in which tens of thousands of people lost their lives, to TKP, saying "I trust you, you will deliver them to the right place". TKP kept its promise and did not let the trust placed in it go to waste. Now it is time to make sure that your vote also reaches the right place. 

In the presidential elections, TKP wants Erdoğan to go and therefore wants votes for Kılıçdaroğlu. 

In the parliamentary elections, cast your vote for TKP for an independent, secular, sovereign, socialist country. These votes will return as hope, as solidarity, as the uprising of our people. And most importantly, reason, morality and conscience will win.   

Let's break all obstacles and dams imposed on us for independence, secularism, the Republic and socialism. 

We did it in 1923, we will do it again in 2023.