Joint Initiative of the Parties that participate in the International Communist Review regarding the developments in Syria

STATEMENT ON THE CONFLICT IN SYRIA

Imperialism, disguising its face under the banner of the ‘Syrian opposition,’ has embarked upon a bloody assault on the Syrian people. After a brief period of confusion regarding the incidents in Syria, the haze has cleared. There is now no doubt that the rebel group, the so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ (FSA), which is involved in an armed struggle against the Syrian government is sponsored by the US led imperialism, its counterpart the European Union and its regional clients including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. Not only do they politically endorse the FSA but also finance its activities, train its militia and supply arms for their ‘holy’ struggle.

Although the Syrian people have their own reasons for opposing the Assad regime, the ongoing campaign against the Syrian government does not reflect the will and demands of the Syrian people. The current conflict in Syria cannot simply be defined within the ‘people versus the dictator’ template. Recent regime changes in the Arab world and primarily the notorious overthrow of the Libyan government demonstrated that the imperialists have been exploiting this template to draw support for imperialist intervention in the Middle East. Their goal is to stage the similar scenario in Syria.

The developments in the region express the intensification of the imperialist aggressiveness and the sharpening of the inter-imperialist competition for the acquisition of new markets and the exploitation of the natural resources in the region. The aggression of the USA, NATO, EU and their allies against Syria serves this very goal and aims at the imposition of a government that totally complies with the imperialist dictates and loyally serves their interests. These imperialist forces openly state that through regime change in Syria they aim to isolate and weaken Iran as well. In this sense, it is not a coincidence that plans for a military offensive against Iran have been recently brought to the table again.

Since the attack against Syria is part of a greater strategic plan by the United States regarding the Middle East, other international actors are inevitably getting involved in the issue. Russia, confident of the capacity of the Syrian regime to resist against the ongoing assault, has sided with the Assad government.

In the region the U.S. government works in close collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. These warmongers have been pouring money, arms and even importing international jihadists into Syria. Under these circumstances, the peoples of Syria who have different ethnic and religious identities are worried for their future and for the future of Syria as a secular and multi-ethnic country.

Turkey, which shares borders with Syria, not only hosted meetings to establish a unified Sunni opposition against the Syrian regime but also deployed the Sunni-Islamist militias in its border cities. In the refugee camps built within Turkey’s borders, the militias are living among the civilian refugees, an open violation of international regulations regarding refugee camps. Additionally, in separate military camps, CIA and MOSSAD alongside Turkish intelligence forces are training the Syrian militias. We stress that the tension on the Turkish-Syrian borders is particularly dangerous and note that the majority of the people in Turkey is against any intervention in Syria.

Furthermore, during the courses of the recent events in the Middle East, we witness that the imperialists and their corporate media and academic mouthpieces label the pro-imperialist forces as ‘revolutionary.’ Doing this, they hope to be able to justify the imperialist interventions in the Middle East in the eyes of the people because forces that are called ‘revolutionary’ demand them.

In this regard, as communist and workers’ parties we condemn all kinds of imperialist intervention in Syria carried out either through supporting a group inside Syria to fight against the regime or through direct military operation. We recognize that any method that has been adopted or will be adopted by imperialism in Syria violates the Syrian people’s right to self-determination.

We declare that throughout this imperialist propaganda, the so-called ‘revolution’ and the intervention have become indissolubly linked. We condemn the apologists for imperialist intervention who praise pro-imperialist forces including the Islamists now fighting against the Syrian people as ‘revolutionary’.

This is a call from communist and workers’ parties to all real revolutionary and peace-loving forces, to the people’s of the region to raise the level of struggle against the imperialist aggression in Syria and the threats against Iran.

Signatures

1. Workers' Party of Belgium
2. Communist Party of Greece
3. Hungarian Communist Workers' Party
4. Socialist Party of Latvia
5. Communist Party of Luxembourg
6. Communist Party of Mexico
7. Communist Workers Party of Russia - Revolution Party of Communists (RKRP-RPC)
8. Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
9. Communist Party of Turkey
10. Union of Communists of Ukraine
11. Communist Party of Venezuela

• PADS, Algeria
• Workers' Party of Bangladesh
• Brazilian Communist Party
• Communist Party in Denmark
• Communists People's Left - Communist Party, Italy
• Palestinian Communist Party
• Philippine Communist Party [PKP-1930]
• Party for Socialism and Liberation
• New Communist Party of Yugoslavia

The statement is open for signature by other Communist and Workers’ Parties