To the Central Committee of the fraternal Communist Party of Greece 

The Tudeh Party of Iran was appalled to receivethe news of the unprovoked attack by Greek police upon members, allies, and supporters of the Communist Party of Greece, PAME, and several student and trade union organisations, in the streets of Athens as they gathered to commemorate and protest on the anniversary of the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic University in 1973 and against imperialism. 

Despite the protest participants’ obvious endeavour to exercise their democratic right to mark the event in a responsible and socially-distanced manner, owing to the current backdrop of the pandemic, it is clear that the ND government cynically exploited the situation to deploy the police against those peacefully assembled on this important occasion and thus send out their own signal of intent.  The ND government has performed woefully during the pandemic leading to a parlous health situation in Greece as elsewhere, and yet the government took the opportunity under the guise of addressing an impending health ‘time bomb’ to try and stifle human and democratic rights, and any attempt to mark the events of November 1973. And, in doing so, their own mask slipped! 

The Tudeh Party of Iran is well aware of the dark undercurrent in the use of police and security forces in the contemporary history of Greece, as well as the long shadow cast by the political Right in the country.  Of course, the scenes of police violence being meted out to peaceful protesters are ones we in the Tudeh Party of Iran are only too familiar with,and are eerily reminiscent of the default mode of our own country’s police and security forces when dealing with assemblies and protests - particularly by the Left, workers and progressives - over the past four decades of the Islamic Republic regime and that of the Shah beforehand. 

The Tudeh Party of Iran unreservedly condemns the violence of the Greek police inflicted upon those assembled for a legitimate and peaceful protest, and in commemoration of one of the major events in the contemporary history and politics of Greece, as well as the baseless arrest and detention of several of those in attendance.  In doing so, our Party also takes the opportunity to reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the fraternal Communist Party of Greece, its members and supporters, and to pay tribute to the example and memories of those who rose and fell in the battle against tyranny and imperialism in the Athens Polytechnic University in November 1973.

Comradely yours, 

Central Committee of the Tudeh Party of Iran

18 November 2020