Contribution of the Communist Party of Turkey

Contribution of TKP to the ECA Teleconference "The experience of the communists in the struggle to protect the people’s lives and infrastructure from natural and technological disasters"

Dear comrades,

Humanity is increasingly exposed to a growing range of natural disasters—such as floods, droughts, earthquakes, and hurricanes—as well as technological catastrophes, including industrial, nuclear, biological, and chemical accidents, often resulting from system failures, negligence, or abuse. The extent of destruction caused by these disasters is less a consequence of the forces of nature or the disasters’ magnitude, spread, and severity, and more closely tied to the functioning of capitalist markets and the inequalities they perpetuate. Despite advancements in science and technology, the primary reason for human vulnerability to these disasters lies in capitalism’s relentless pursuit of profit.

In this system, disasters represent tragedies for impoverished workers, while offering new opportunities for the capitalist class. From post-disaster reconstruction processes and the expansion of new insurance systems to the privatization of public services under the pretext of improving their efficiency and quality, and the redirection of collected aid and donations toward tenders that serve the interests of large corporations—these events often give rise to a series of exploitative practices.

While the capitalist class seeks to turn periods of crisis into opportunities to multiply their profits, they are simultaneously concerned with implementing measures that minimize their own losses. The loss of human life, mass waves of migration, and the material and psychological hardships faced by society as a result of disasters are of little concern to them. Their precautions and commissioned risk analyses are primarily aimed at preventing disruptions in supply chains and losses in labor power. It is precisely for this reason that humanity has, for decades, witnessed how natural disasters are transformed into artificial catastrophes by scientifically uninformed and market-obsessed regimes.

In recent years, our people have suffered from numerous natural disasters—including earthquakes, floods, landslides, and forest fires. At the root of these hardships lies the extensive marketization of search and rescue operations, emergency response, and social assistance services—tasks that should be planned and carried out under the responsibility of the state. In the collective social consciousness, these strategic functions represent some of the state's most fundamental obligations. However, following the waves of privatization, the subcontracting of these responsibilities has significantly diminished the state’s capacity to respond effectively to disasters. In Turkey’s case, this inadequacy is further exacerbated by the activities of reactionary and liberal ideologies that have systematically eroded the fabric of organized society. For some time now, the state has deliberately delegated the organization of social aid to religious sects operating under the guise of civil society. During times of disaster, these religious groups exploit people’s moral values and emotions to run aid and donation campaigns, using such crises both to expand their organizational reach and to accumulate material wealth, ultimately enabling their transformation into corporate entities.

The 1999 Marmara earthquake, which affected Istanbul, the prolonged forest fires along the Aegean coast in the summer of 2021, the February 2023 Maraş earthquakes, and the subsequent flood disasters have each revealed to what extent the shrinking of the state and the erosion of its planning and response capacities have exacerbated the scale of destruction. Amid this capitalist irrationality, it has become evident that the significance and impact of communist organization extend far beyond its numerical strength. 

Most recently during the 2023 Maraş earthquake—and previously during forest fires and other earthquakes—our party organized various solidarity campaigns. Beyond these efforts, however, we played a critical role from the earliest hours of the disasters, participating in search and rescue operations as well as providing first aid and emergency medical assistance in affected areas. The Communist Party of Turkey’s (TKP) ability to manage the multifaceted crisis that unfolded in the early days of the 2023 earthquake was, in large part, the result of the experience accumulated through the party’s direct involvement in emergency response efforts since the 1999 earthquake.

During the February 2023 earthquake, our teams composed of search and rescue personnel and healthcare workers were able to reach the disaster zone within hours—well before the state, which arrived only days later. Crisis coordination centers established in strategically designated localities under a centralized plan served not only as hubs for emergency medical intervention and search and rescue operations, but also as distribution centers for essential supplies such as dry food and beverages, hygiene products, diapers and baby formula, clothing, and blankets. These centers also played a vital role in rapidly identifying the evolving urgent needs of the region and the individuals affected. In line with this, a centrally coordinated effort ensured that these critical materials were procured and delivered by our organizations outside the earthquake zone through a broad mobilization of social solidarity.

In addition to establishing its own organizational coordination, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) played a significant role in directing and coordinating both professional and non-professional civil organizations, as well as volunteer citizens, who arrived in the disaster zone during the initial days. Amid the crisis of governance caused by the inefficiency and disorganization of central authorities and local public administrations in managing the response, the organizational and managerial capacity of the communists became a vital force. In many cases, our party provided even the basic necessities of public officials and healthcare workers—whether they were on duty or themselves disaster victims. In areas where transportation had become a major challenge, our comrades and party-affiliated healthcare workers were among the first to reach rural populations that were neglected and left out of sight in the aftermath of the earthquake.

As the disaster and its aftermath gradually faded from the national and media spotlight, and as the attention of public authorities and the general population towards the affected region diminished, the party continued to mobilize human and informational resources to alleviate the lives of those who had suffered. Over the following months, our psychologists provided counseling, child development specialists and teachers contributed to the interrupted education and rehabilitation of children, technicians and engineers ensured access to clean water, and our artists worked to enrich social life. Our Solidarity Center in Antakya remains operational as a space where the local community, through organized solidarity, has been healing its wounds, while also hosting cultural and educational courses and workshops.

This entire process also laid the groundwork for the dismantling of long-standing negative prejudices against communists in communities with a conservative and nationalist social base. It fostered the emergence and spread of a new belief in communists as honest, reliable, and capable individuals. The longstanding narratives held by right-wing conservative voters who have supported the political establishment for years were disrupted, leading to an ideological and political convulsion in Turkish society, the effects of which are becoming more evident today. Right-wing groups, who had long revered the state as sacred, were confronted with the reality that the state had diminished, weakened, and that the parties they had supported were to blame for this. In contrast, they began to recognize that a "strong state" could only be realized through a planned economy advocated by communists. Among nationalist and conservative factions directly engaging with communists, a growing sympathy for socialist ideas and communism began to emerge as a new phenomenon within Turkish society.

For communists, it is crucial to make timely and appropriate interventions during disasters, where the legitimacy of political power is questioned, in order to transform this questioning into an examination of the system as a whole. Such periods serve as critical moments that demonstrate communists' ability to govern the country, showcasing small-scale examples of this potential despite various limitations. These special periods are not only vital for healing the wounds of society but also for strengthening the relationship between communists and the society, increasing their connections, and establishing a deeper presence in the country. The Communist Party of Turkey’s (TKP) longstanding political assertion that "they cannot govern" is directly related to all of these issues in the context of Turkey’s capitalism and the current regime. The emphasis on "They cannot govern, but we can" invites the people to engage in political action and embark on the path to power.

The short-, medium-, and long-term experiences of intervention and solidarity that TKP has gained during disasters have also led to the definition of a series of new tasks for its organizations. A special working team for preparation in extraordinary situations has been established under the responsibility of the Central Committee, and this team has embarked on new tasks to ensure that the party organizations are fully prepared for the next exceptional situation. Naturally, this preparation period itself constitutes a major issue of organizational development.

Capitalism has repeatedly proven that it disregards human life, regardless of the level of development of a society. In the past few years, we have experienced this reality once again through the disasters and their consequences in various countries with different dynamics. Capitalism itself is an unnatural disaster. In the face of this reality, the duty of communists is to expose the role of capitalism in the consequences of natural disasters, to expand the political struggle against it, and to increase preparedness for future disasters, all while being aware of the power of solidarity and organization. This preparation is also of crucial importance in our march toward political power.