The 29th of October marks Turkey´s  Republic Day and the victory of the  Turkish revolution on 29 October 1923.  The day is normally celebrated by millions of Turks who commemorate the victory of the Turkish people under the leadership of Kamal Ataturk over imperialism and its proxies. Until recently the day has been officially recognized as the most important official holiday. The government of Prime Minister R. Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP however, have tried to ban public demonstrations on 29 October as part of their policy to destroy Turkey and to form smaller states along ethnic and religious divisions. On 29 October millions of Turks went into the streets and defied the AKP government, its attempts to implement the USA´s Greater Middle East Project and its illegal war on neighboring Syria. The successful mass protests are a crushing defeat of US/NATO-Imperialism in Turkey and the Middle East.

A mass rally in the vicinity of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara was organized by the Turkish Youth Movement TGB, the Association of Adherents to Kemalist Thinking ADD, and 37 other mass organizations. Between 1920 and 1924 the building was used as the headquarter of the war of independence and it is today a museum. Hundreds of thousands participated in this rally alone, turning it into a popular celebration and a massive act of defiance against US/NATO Imperialism, Secterianism and the imperialist crusade against Syria.

The rally was also attended by the Vice Chairman of the Workers´ Party – Turkey, Hasan Basri Özbey, the Secretary General Osman Yilmaz and the General Treasurer of the Workers´ Party Mustafa Gülec who led as hundreds of thousands swore an oath of allegiance to the Atatürk Revolution.

The rally and the massive  turnout were a crushing defeat and public humiliation for Erdogan, the AKP and their treasonous policy. Even though the government had ordered police forces to erect barricades in all main roads leading to the rally points, the police had to remove the barricades and let the masses pass to avoid being removed. Where the barricades were not removed they were crushed by the masses.

People also protested in other cities. In Izmir more than five hundred thousand went into the street. Also in Istanbul, Bursa and other cities hundreds of thousands defied the AKP governments orders not to demonstrate.

The attempt of the AKP and the government of R. Tayyip Erdogan to change Turkey´s history by outlawing the historical celebration of the Turkish Revolutions victory over imperialism and its proxies may very well have been a historic mistake and political miscalculation of Erdogan and the AKP.

Christof Lehmann

08.11.2012

ARE YOU ALSO TIRED OF MONKEY BUSINESS IN MEDIA AND MEDIA MONKEYS?