Contribution by the Party of Labour of Austria

Dear comrades,

Firstly, we would like to express our gratitude to the Communist Party of Turkey for organizing this meeting on this matter of utmost importance.

Without claiming to be exhaustive, the following factors can be highlighted for the Party of Labor of Austria regarding the situation in the Middle East:

The political, economic and social situation in the region in recent decades is characterized on the one hand by the supremacy of the rotten and corrupt regimes in most Arab countries, which are closely allied with the USA, the EU and NATO. And on the other hand by the military superiority of Israel as the closest ally, NATO, the EU and the USA. This dynamic is further compounded by a series of overt and covert Western military interventions, initially under the banner of the so-called "war on terror" and subsequently as part of the "Arab Spring," which have occurred in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria, among others.

Meanwhile, capitalist China and Russia in particular are trying in different ways to increase their influence in the region, such as the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran mediated by China or the Russian support for the self-proclaimed Axis of Resistance. This Axis of Resistance is by no means an anti-imperialist force, but seeks to assert the political and economic interests of the capitalist states involved in the region, above all Russia and Iran.

The ongoing genocidal war waged by Israel against the Palestinian people has further exacerbated the already volatile situation in the region, thereby heightening the risk of war in the region and beyond. The military presence of the USA, NATO, and the EU in the Red Sea, military interventions in Yemen, the Israeli war against Lebanon, the direct military confrontation between Iran and Israel, and recent developments in Syria demonstrate the increased danger of war.

In this context, both parties have sought to leverage Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people as an opportunity to change the balance of power in the region. The attacks by Iran's allies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq etc. on Israel and the US military are evidence of this. Conversely, Israel and its allies have also engaged in this endeavour by targeting Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, etc.

The overthrow in Syria signifies the struggle among regional and imperialist powers to alter the balance of power in the region. Syria's strategic importance in the region has been a primary factor in this context. The fall of Assad can be attributed to the intervention and support of jihadists by NATO, the EU, the US, and Israel Many different powers maintain their own armed militias in Syria to pursue their own interests. The United States, for instance, supports the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have been occupying Syrian oil with U.S. support for an extended period, maintaining U.S. bases in the areas under their control. In contrast, Iran and Russia support the Assad government. The Syrian National Army, on the other hand, has primarily operated in areas occupied by Turkey, working closely with Turkish forces.

The overthrow in Syria has shown once again that imperialist agreements, such as those reached in the Astana format between Iran, Russia and Turkey, can only provide temporary peace. The law of the inequality of development in capitalism directly leads to the fact that such agreements can only last until one of the parties involved sees an opportunity to change the balance of power in its favor, as we have now seen in Syria and previously in Ukraine with the Minsk agreements. The Party of Labor of Austria rejects Austria's support for Israel. The bourgeois parties are trying to deepen Austria's integration into the NATO and EU bloc against the backdrop of Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people. The outgoing government has positioned Austria internationally as a hardliner in its support for Israel and has repeatedly voted against a ceasefire in the UN General Assembly and the EU.

The Party of Labor of Austria stands in solidarity with the communists and the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

The developments in the region show once again that the only way out for the peoples and the working class is the struggle to overcome capitalism and to take the path of building socialism. The notion of a multipolar world order is an illusion; such an order will further exacerbate the danger of war and intensify the struggle for supremacy in the imperialist world system.