Opposition to NATO Summit in Turkey

ISTANBUL: On Sunday June 27, the Communist Party of Turkey 
together with other left and progressive groups organised a large 
demonstation against the presence of the NATO Summit in 
Istanbul.

More than 50,000 people took part in the demonstration. Also 
present were representatives of the Greek, Belgian, Dutch, 
Danish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Czech and Australian communist 
parties. There were also contingents from Greece and Syria who 
marched in the demonstration.

The organisers expected a much larger crowd. But many thousands 
of people couldn't attend as the police blocked off roads leading 
into the area.

Another factor that kept people away was the fear of violence. 
This was due to the actions of fringe groups in the week leading 
up to the demonstation. These included bombings in Istanbul and 
Ankara in which at least five people were killed.

On the day preceding the actions in Istanbul, a demonstration in 
Ankara ended in violence when a group broke away from the main 
body and attacked the police. The police retaliated in kind and 
the demonstation was called off.

What the demonstration in Istanbul lacked in numbers it made up 
for in militancy.

By far the largest contingent was from the Communist Party of 
Turkey. Chanting "Yankee go home" and "Istanbul is closing its 
doors to NATO" thousands of young workers and students let their 
feelings about NATO and the summit be known.

The Communist Party of Turkey also organised a march to the venue 
of the summit on the following day.

Thousands of young members of the Party took part but were 
prevented from reaching the venue for the summit by armed police 
in riot gear. They did manage to attach a banner to the French 
Consulate with the message "NATO and Bush you are not welcome. 
Get out of Turkey".

Opposition to the plan for NATO to act as regional police force 
is gaining momentum around Europe.

The size and strength of the demonstrations in Istanbul reflect 
the success of the left and progressive forces in Turkey making 
opposition to NATO an issue in the country.

They also reflect the growth in influence of the Communist Party 
of Turkey which is able to mobilise thousands of militant young 
workers and students in mass demonstrations.