mosfeld
28th July 2011, 21:26
I thought I'd share this enjoyable piece which describes a harmonious relationship between two communist trends (which are fairly hostile on RevLeft, of course..)
Black Flags and Turkish Maoism in Rebel Exarchia
by Eric Ribellarsi
Before coming to Greece, I’d heard about Exarchia. It is fabled as a strong-hold of anarchists, so much that the police are often afraid to enter it. It has been a strategic center for launching militant political movements throughout the city. It was also a very important place during the 2008 uprisings that shook the country, for it was hear that 15 year old Aleksandros was murdered, sparking the uprisings. This I knew, but what I saw went even beyond all of that.
Walking through Exarchia for the first time, I immediately saw that the graffiti here was the most densely concentrated I have seen in my life (sorry Detroit). And the art is radical as fuck. The walls were lined with red stars, circle-a's, images of rebels with gas masks, portraits of the murdered young radical, Aleksandros. Political posters were on every wall, on top of other politics posters. One popular image seems to be Felix the cat (a symbol of anarchist syndicalism) emblazoned on a red star.
Throughout this district, burnt out dumpsters were present from each night’s militant street fighting. They were used as barricades when the police try to attack.
Mainstream newspaper booths seemed to sell more anarchist and communist newspapers than they do bourgeois newspapers. And they even sell books on the Black Panther Party in the U.S.!
We'd heard that exiled Turkish immigrants who support the Maoist Communist Party of Turkey (MKP) have a bookstore here. The MKP is the most significant of the Maoist parties in Turkey. It has been in a protracted people’s war combined with a large mass movement in Istanbul aiming for country-wide liberation.
Revolution in Turkey has always been full of all kinds of twists, turns, and sacrifice. The original Turkish Maoist leader, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya led a split from the revisionist Turkish party in the 1970’s, after writing creative and sharp polemics. But only a few years later, he was captured and tortured to death at the young age of 23. In 2005, most of their leadership was again brutally murdered in a helicopter attack, forcing them to re-organize their party and develop a new leadership.
We went over to check out the MKP bookstore, which was filled with the literature of the Turkish Maoist movement, other movements in Turkey, MKP books supporting the revolution in Nepal, and more. They even make the notoriously delicious Greek coffee called “frappe” here (it is made by whipping coffee grounds, sugar, and water, then adding milk.
There we met Ilena and Ibrahim. Ilena is a young radical, who says she has no ideology, but is closest to anarchism. But she prefers to hang out with the Turkish Maoists.
Ibrahim is a Turkish Maoist who has been forced to come to Greece, like many others, because of the extreme repression of their revolutionary movement. He is intense, quiet, and warm. He gave me an intense embrace like we’d known each other our whole lives, and we shared stories of the communist movement in each of our countries.
Ilena tells me that we should head over to a local bar, which is owned by a Turkish Maoist. He is the “Maoist Mayor of Exarchia” she says with a big grin and a snicker. I’m puzzled, but excited to head over.
The Maoist Mayor of Exarchia
We met Halim, a Turkish Maoist bar owner who has been affectionately dubbed by his anarchist peers “the mayor.” Why the mayor? Because everyone in this entire district knows (and loves) Halim, and wants to debate with him about revolution. He is out every night, walking through the parks and sharing drinks with comrades from all different trends.
Halim and others in Exarchia spend their evenings debating history, his experiences in the revolutionary struggle of Turkey, what is unfolding in Exarchia, and what it will take to free Greece (and ultimately the world). And the anarchists come to his bar, and see him as a sort of mentor. Even if they disagree on strategy, they have deep respect for the people’s war in Turkey (in a way that reminds me of the way that anarchists in America have always respected the Black Panther Party).
Like Halim, many Turkish immigrants have been forced to flee Turkey because of the brutal repression of the communist movement in their countries. They have ended up in places like Germany, Sweden, and Greece. In each of these places, they have worked to dig deep roots among the people of those countries, to learn about their particularities, and have played a role in helping build the revolutionary movement those countries. The partisan base they are forming in Exarchia is part of this.
Halim’s English had some difficulties, and my Greek and Turkish were non-existent. Instead, Halim communicates with us through saying “problem,” and “no problem.” Stomach is upset? Problem. Police wanted to try to fuck with the people? No problem. Halim was fearless and militant in the face of repression.
He wanted to discuss music and film with us, what are the good films in America, he asked. Have we heard about recent communist films from Turkey? He shared his own poetry with us, and wanted us to hear revolutionary music from Turkey and Greece.
Hanging out in Halim’s bar was even more amazing. We met a young communist who was persuaded by Turkish Maoists to quit the KKE (The Communist Party of Greece, an anti-revolutionary party which is notorious for hiding its hatred for uprising and rebellion with an “orthodox” style of Soviet revisionist politics). His exit from KKE came at a key moment, its hostility to the uprisings in 2008. During this time, KKE came out with polemics against the uprising, declaring “when the revolution comes, the workers will not break even a single glass.”
Now he works with the MKP. And there are other unaffiliated Greek communists who have gravitated to the MKP as well, with a deep respect for the roots it has developed in Exarchia and the revolution it is leading in Turkey.
Halim mentioned a party for anarchist political prisoners happening that night, and invited us to head over to it.
Meeting the Anarchist Movement's Left-wing
We went over to the party. About 500 young, mostly anarchist, radicals were dancing and drinking in solidarity with their imprisoned comrades. Halim introduced us to an autonomist (an anarchist trend focused on factory take-overs, wild-cat strikes, and syndicalist type politics) named Alfonso, who has come from Italy to join the movement here.
Alfonso and I spent some time talking about Antonio Negri (the author of Empire, a book which argues for a spontaneous transition to a communist society among other things, who he called a traitor to his movement), and about the movement in Syntagma Square.
Alfonso confessed to me that he has decided to stay out of Syntagma. He has not joined the people's assemblies, and has chosen a different strategy for revolution in Greece.
He says that he does not see it as part of the revolutionary left, and that the movement in the square will never come to, for example, defend anarchist political prisoners like we were doing at this party. He described it as being “de-politicized,” a reference to the strong current of opposition to parties and ideologies that has been present in Syntagma.
Instead he told us he will focus on trying to create breaks within Greece’s bureaucratic trade unions. His view was that things will have to come from the class struggle, and that what exists in Syntagma is not that.
I had sharp disagreements with Alfonso’s views on Syntagma. I think what is unfolding there is precisely a site of the class struggle, even if in forms that the old left never predicted or foresaw. But I was also impressed by Alfonso’s complete lack of sectarianism towards communists and anarchist trends other than his own. He was articulate, serious, and thoughtful, even where I had disagreements with him. I couldn’t help but feel that he is the product of a real revolutionary movement.
And like Alfonso, this party was character of Exarchia itself. Its young radicals were alive with warm embrace, thoughtful debate, and dreams of revolution. Exarchia is a place where the young (and also some old) have come, with varying different understandings, to be part of changing their society and the world.
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/94-black-flags-and-turkish-maoism-in-rebel-exarchia
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/95-the-maoist-mayor-of-exarchia-exarchia-part-2
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/96-meeting-the-anarchist-movements-left-wing-exarchia-part-3
Black Flags and Turkish Maoism in Rebel Exarchia
by Eric Ribellarsi
Before coming to Greece, I’d heard about Exarchia. It is fabled as a strong-hold of anarchists, so much that the police are often afraid to enter it. It has been a strategic center for launching militant political movements throughout the city. It was also a very important place during the 2008 uprisings that shook the country, for it was hear that 15 year old Aleksandros was murdered, sparking the uprisings. This I knew, but what I saw went even beyond all of that.
Walking through Exarchia for the first time, I immediately saw that the graffiti here was the most densely concentrated I have seen in my life (sorry Detroit). And the art is radical as fuck. The walls were lined with red stars, circle-a's, images of rebels with gas masks, portraits of the murdered young radical, Aleksandros. Political posters were on every wall, on top of other politics posters. One popular image seems to be Felix the cat (a symbol of anarchist syndicalism) emblazoned on a red star.
Throughout this district, burnt out dumpsters were present from each night’s militant street fighting. They were used as barricades when the police try to attack.
Mainstream newspaper booths seemed to sell more anarchist and communist newspapers than they do bourgeois newspapers. And they even sell books on the Black Panther Party in the U.S.!
We'd heard that exiled Turkish immigrants who support the Maoist Communist Party of Turkey (MKP) have a bookstore here. The MKP is the most significant of the Maoist parties in Turkey. It has been in a protracted people’s war combined with a large mass movement in Istanbul aiming for country-wide liberation.
Revolution in Turkey has always been full of all kinds of twists, turns, and sacrifice. The original Turkish Maoist leader, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya led a split from the revisionist Turkish party in the 1970’s, after writing creative and sharp polemics. But only a few years later, he was captured and tortured to death at the young age of 23. In 2005, most of their leadership was again brutally murdered in a helicopter attack, forcing them to re-organize their party and develop a new leadership.
We went over to check out the MKP bookstore, which was filled with the literature of the Turkish Maoist movement, other movements in Turkey, MKP books supporting the revolution in Nepal, and more. They even make the notoriously delicious Greek coffee called “frappe” here (it is made by whipping coffee grounds, sugar, and water, then adding milk.
There we met Ilena and Ibrahim. Ilena is a young radical, who says she has no ideology, but is closest to anarchism. But she prefers to hang out with the Turkish Maoists.
Ibrahim is a Turkish Maoist who has been forced to come to Greece, like many others, because of the extreme repression of their revolutionary movement. He is intense, quiet, and warm. He gave me an intense embrace like we’d known each other our whole lives, and we shared stories of the communist movement in each of our countries.
Ilena tells me that we should head over to a local bar, which is owned by a Turkish Maoist. He is the “Maoist Mayor of Exarchia” she says with a big grin and a snicker. I’m puzzled, but excited to head over.
The Maoist Mayor of Exarchia
We met Halim, a Turkish Maoist bar owner who has been affectionately dubbed by his anarchist peers “the mayor.” Why the mayor? Because everyone in this entire district knows (and loves) Halim, and wants to debate with him about revolution. He is out every night, walking through the parks and sharing drinks with comrades from all different trends.
Halim and others in Exarchia spend their evenings debating history, his experiences in the revolutionary struggle of Turkey, what is unfolding in Exarchia, and what it will take to free Greece (and ultimately the world). And the anarchists come to his bar, and see him as a sort of mentor. Even if they disagree on strategy, they have deep respect for the people’s war in Turkey (in a way that reminds me of the way that anarchists in America have always respected the Black Panther Party).
Like Halim, many Turkish immigrants have been forced to flee Turkey because of the brutal repression of the communist movement in their countries. They have ended up in places like Germany, Sweden, and Greece. In each of these places, they have worked to dig deep roots among the people of those countries, to learn about their particularities, and have played a role in helping build the revolutionary movement those countries. The partisan base they are forming in Exarchia is part of this.
Halim’s English had some difficulties, and my Greek and Turkish were non-existent. Instead, Halim communicates with us through saying “problem,” and “no problem.” Stomach is upset? Problem. Police wanted to try to fuck with the people? No problem. Halim was fearless and militant in the face of repression.
He wanted to discuss music and film with us, what are the good films in America, he asked. Have we heard about recent communist films from Turkey? He shared his own poetry with us, and wanted us to hear revolutionary music from Turkey and Greece.
Hanging out in Halim’s bar was even more amazing. We met a young communist who was persuaded by Turkish Maoists to quit the KKE (The Communist Party of Greece, an anti-revolutionary party which is notorious for hiding its hatred for uprising and rebellion with an “orthodox” style of Soviet revisionist politics). His exit from KKE came at a key moment, its hostility to the uprisings in 2008. During this time, KKE came out with polemics against the uprising, declaring “when the revolution comes, the workers will not break even a single glass.”
Now he works with the MKP. And there are other unaffiliated Greek communists who have gravitated to the MKP as well, with a deep respect for the roots it has developed in Exarchia and the revolution it is leading in Turkey.
Halim mentioned a party for anarchist political prisoners happening that night, and invited us to head over to it.
Meeting the Anarchist Movement's Left-wing
We went over to the party. About 500 young, mostly anarchist, radicals were dancing and drinking in solidarity with their imprisoned comrades. Halim introduced us to an autonomist (an anarchist trend focused on factory take-overs, wild-cat strikes, and syndicalist type politics) named Alfonso, who has come from Italy to join the movement here.
Alfonso and I spent some time talking about Antonio Negri (the author of Empire, a book which argues for a spontaneous transition to a communist society among other things, who he called a traitor to his movement), and about the movement in Syntagma Square.
Alfonso confessed to me that he has decided to stay out of Syntagma. He has not joined the people's assemblies, and has chosen a different strategy for revolution in Greece.
He says that he does not see it as part of the revolutionary left, and that the movement in the square will never come to, for example, defend anarchist political prisoners like we were doing at this party. He described it as being “de-politicized,” a reference to the strong current of opposition to parties and ideologies that has been present in Syntagma.
Instead he told us he will focus on trying to create breaks within Greece’s bureaucratic trade unions. His view was that things will have to come from the class struggle, and that what exists in Syntagma is not that.
I had sharp disagreements with Alfonso’s views on Syntagma. I think what is unfolding there is precisely a site of the class struggle, even if in forms that the old left never predicted or foresaw. But I was also impressed by Alfonso’s complete lack of sectarianism towards communists and anarchist trends other than his own. He was articulate, serious, and thoughtful, even where I had disagreements with him. I couldn’t help but feel that he is the product of a real revolutionary movement.
And like Alfonso, this party was character of Exarchia itself. Its young radicals were alive with warm embrace, thoughtful debate, and dreams of revolution. Exarchia is a place where the young (and also some old) have come, with varying different understandings, to be part of changing their society and the world.
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/94-black-flags-and-turkish-maoism-in-rebel-exarchia
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/95-the-maoist-mayor-of-exarchia-exarchia-part-2
http://winterends.net/greece-stories/96-meeting-the-anarchist-movements-left-wing-exarchia-part-3